Bernie Sanders, who is beginning to make a sharper case against rival Hillary Clinton, told the cast of TV’s The View that he can beat Clinton – but he steered clear of any mention of her.
Though host Whoopi Goldberg asked Sanders “why should we vote for you,” he responded to a question of whether he could defeat Clinton by arguing that his campaign is “resonating around the country,” drawing record crowds and campaign donors.
“If we can create the energy and the excitement, if we can bring people together, “ Sanders said. He got a second chance to take on Clinton, but instead talked about his record as mayor of Burlington, Vermont and as a member of Congress.
He walked out to loud applause with Joy Behar noting the 74-year-old’s fans were “so young.” (Co-host Raven-Symone asked him about his appeal to her generation, but apparently mistook Sanders for comedian Larry David’s impersonation of him, noting “you’ve been on SNL” – a reference to David’s appearance earlier this month on Saturday Night Live.)
Sanders on the campaign trail boasts that in 40 years in office he’s never gone negative. But at a weekend Democratic event he began underscoring differences between himself and the former Secretary of State, saying he had a history of backing liberal causes.
He pointed to his early opposition to the Iraq War and Keystone XL pipeline and noted that he opposed the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
“Those are the choices I made when I came to the forks in the road,” he said. “I promise you tonight as your president I will govern based on principle not poll numbers.”
Lesley Clark: 202-383-6054, @lesleyclark