Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) Responds to Senator Bernie Sanders’

   Announcement Suspending his Presidential Campaign.

PDA Executive Director Alan Minsky said, “Bernie Sanders is the transformative politician of our time; a monumental figure in American history. His 2016 and 2020 Presidential campaigns reset the national agenda; reversing a decades-long rightward drift in our politics and establishing the possibility of real progressive change through the electoral system.”

Minsky observed, “Alone among national political figures, Senator Sanders championed both the 21st Century New Deal agenda we need and the fundamental reforms necessary to make our political and economic systems work for the people—not just the powerful. American politics have changed thanks to Bernie. Polls show that the Sanders agenda is now embraced by a majority of Americans; and, thus, it is incumbent upon all of us to continue Bernie’s fight until his policy template, which America needs now more than ever, is passed into law.”

PDA Communications Director Mike Hersh said, “PDA launched an effort to ‘draft’ Sen. Bernie Sanders to run for President as a Democrat in 2013. We called our campaign to build support for this historic candidacy ‘Run Bernie Run,’ and persuaded him to do so by gathering more than 20,000 petition signatures, holding town hall meetings and house parties in several states, through social media efforts, and other outreach.”

Hersh added, “Sen. Sanders was correct when he explained, ‘This country faces more serious problems than at any time since the Great Depression, and there is a horrendous lack of serious political discourse or ideas out there that can address these crises, and that somebody has got to represent the working-class and the middle-class of this country.’ That’s why he inspired millions and launched a mass movement.”

Minsky added, “PDA is committed to working with progressive delegates on the National Democratic Party Platform to ensure that it adequately addresses the challenges we currently face including the COVID-19 Pandemic and the need for Medicare For All, a Green New Deal, and Labor reforms, as well as solutions to the crushing student and consumer debt, persistent poverty, homelessness, and structural racism that remain endemic in contemporary America. So, in the upcoming primaries, PDA will mobilize to make sure that the block of progressive delegates is as large as possible at this summer’s Democratic National Convention.”

Minsky concluded, “PDA was with Bernie right from the beginning. We were the first national organization to call on Bernie to run for President as a Democrat, way back in 2013. We know that going forward Bernie will be there right alongside us. He is a true inspiration to all of us.”