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| No Longer an Outsider, Sanders Is Using the Senate as His Launching Pad | No Longer an Outsider, Sanders Is Using the Senate as His Launching Pad |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| WASHINGTON — When Bernie Sanders steps to the lectern Wednesday to reintroduce his Medicare for All Act, he will do so as a senator, just as he did when he introduced a resolution to end American military involvement in the Yemen war or when he shepherded legislation to improve veterans’ health care. | WASHINGTON — When Bernie Sanders steps to the lectern Wednesday to reintroduce his Medicare for All Act, he will do so as a senator, just as he did when he introduced a resolution to end American military involvement in the Yemen war or when he shepherded legislation to improve veterans’ health care. |
| But behind it are the unmistakable politics of 2020 and his campaign for president, a campaign that never really ended with the election of Donald J. Trump. And Democratic efforts to pull Mr. Sanders into the fold with a newly minted leadership post have only bolstered his platform to seek the presidency. | But behind it are the unmistakable politics of 2020 and his campaign for president, a campaign that never really ended with the election of Donald J. Trump. And Democratic efforts to pull Mr. Sanders into the fold with a newly minted leadership post have only bolstered his platform to seek the presidency. |
| The bill unveiling comes as Mr. Sanders’s $18 million fund-raising haul has made him an instant front-runner in a very crowded field. On the campaign trail, he still casts himself as an outsider, railing in his Brooklyn accent against the “millionaihs and the billionaihs,” though he sometimes drops “the millionaires,” perhaps because he is now a millionaire himself. | The bill unveiling comes as Mr. Sanders’s $18 million fund-raising haul has made him an instant front-runner in a very crowded field. On the campaign trail, he still casts himself as an outsider, railing in his Brooklyn accent against the “millionaihs and the billionaihs,” though he sometimes drops “the millionaires,” perhaps because he is now a millionaire himself. |
| But in Washington, Mr. Sanders, independent of Vermont, is a Senate insider, part of the inner circle surrounding Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader. His post as “chair of outreach” — a job that did not exist until he and Mr. Schumer created it after the 2016 presidential election — has given him license and a small budget to travel the country doing what he likes best: rallying the progressive left to resist President Trump. | But in Washington, Mr. Sanders, independent of Vermont, is a Senate insider, part of the inner circle surrounding Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader. His post as “chair of outreach” — a job that did not exist until he and Mr. Schumer created it after the 2016 presidential election — has given him license and a small budget to travel the country doing what he likes best: rallying the progressive left to resist President Trump. |
| “I ran for president; I got 13 million votes, going over 1,700 delegates to the Democratic convention, and got more young people’s votes than Clinton and Trump combined,” Mr. Sanders boasted in an interview in his Washington office. “And I thought that those 13 million people deserved a voice in Democratic leadership.” | “I ran for president; I got 13 million votes, going over 1,700 delegates to the Democratic convention, and got more young people’s votes than Clinton and Trump combined,” Mr. Sanders boasted in an interview in his Washington office. “And I thought that those 13 million people deserved a voice in Democratic leadership.” |
| [Bernie Sanders, now a millionaire, pledges to release tax returns by Monday.] | |
| Mr. Sanders has used that voice both inside and outside the Senate to burnish his brand. He brought his chief strategist, Jeff Weaver, to meet behind closed doors with Senate Democrats, tutoring them on how to appeal to his millennial base. He went on CNN to debate tax policy with Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas. He held dozens of rallies in 2017 to whip up opposition to Mr. Trump’s plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. | Mr. Sanders has used that voice both inside and outside the Senate to burnish his brand. He brought his chief strategist, Jeff Weaver, to meet behind closed doors with Senate Democrats, tutoring them on how to appeal to his millennial base. He went on CNN to debate tax policy with Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas. He held dozens of rallies in 2017 to whip up opposition to Mr. Trump’s plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. |
| “I think he feeds off these crowds; there’s no question about it,” said Larry Cohen, chairman of Our Revolution, the organization that spun out of Mr. Sanders’s 2016 campaign. Mr. Cohen added that Mr. Schumer realized there was “a huge benefit” to bringing on Mr. Sanders: “You don’t just bring him back after that kind of relative success and just treat him as the junior senator from Vermont.” | “I think he feeds off these crowds; there’s no question about it,” said Larry Cohen, chairman of Our Revolution, the organization that spun out of Mr. Sanders’s 2016 campaign. Mr. Cohen added that Mr. Schumer realized there was “a huge benefit” to bringing on Mr. Sanders: “You don’t just bring him back after that kind of relative success and just treat him as the junior senator from Vermont.” |
| Mr. Sanders has also taken policy positions to cure deficits that arose during his 2016 campaign. After being criticized for lacking foreign policy experience, he led the fight to pass the Yemen resolution, making an odd-bedfellows alliance with two Republicans — Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky — in what amounted to a Senate rebuke of Mr. Trump. He also embraced criminal justice overhaul after being accused of not being sensitive enough to issues of racial injustice. | Mr. Sanders has also taken policy positions to cure deficits that arose during his 2016 campaign. After being criticized for lacking foreign policy experience, he led the fight to pass the Yemen resolution, making an odd-bedfellows alliance with two Republicans — Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky — in what amounted to a Senate rebuke of Mr. Trump. He also embraced criminal justice overhaul after being accused of not being sensitive enough to issues of racial injustice. |
| At the same time, he has staffed his Senate office and his campaign with former leadership aides, three of whom worked for Harry Reid of Nevada, the former Democratic leader, who retired in 2017. He also hired the Democratic operative Tyson Brody, who compiled opposition research on him for Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016. | At the same time, he has staffed his Senate office and his campaign with former leadership aides, three of whom worked for Harry Reid of Nevada, the former Democratic leader, who retired in 2017. He also hired the Democratic operative Tyson Brody, who compiled opposition research on him for Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016. |
| Mr. Sanders’s allies say joining leadership was a smart move, insisting it does not compromise his status as an outsider. Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California and a co-chairman of Mr. Sanders’s 2020 campaign, calls Mr. Sanders “the perfect insider-outsider” who, unlike Mr. Trump, at least knows how Washington works. | Mr. Sanders’s allies say joining leadership was a smart move, insisting it does not compromise his status as an outsider. Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California and a co-chairman of Mr. Sanders’s 2020 campaign, calls Mr. Sanders “the perfect insider-outsider” who, unlike Mr. Trump, at least knows how Washington works. |
| “It’s sort of the best of both worlds,” Mr. Khanna said. “The only people who know that he has that position are 99 other senators and 430-something members of Congress. No one out in the rest of the country knows about it.” | “It’s sort of the best of both worlds,” Mr. Khanna said. “The only people who know that he has that position are 99 other senators and 430-something members of Congress. No one out in the rest of the country knows about it.” |
| The last time he embarked on a run for the White House, in April 2015, Mr. Sanders, was viewed by his colleagues as a kind of oddball figure — a self-identified democratic socialist on a Don Quixote, tilting-at-windmills quest. He announced his candidacy with a position paper on issues like income inequality and climate change, on a patch of grass, known as the Swamp, outside the Capitol — an unusual locale given that senators are not supposed to mix official business with politics. | The last time he embarked on a run for the White House, in April 2015, Mr. Sanders, was viewed by his colleagues as a kind of oddball figure — a self-identified democratic socialist on a Don Quixote, tilting-at-windmills quest. He announced his candidacy with a position paper on issues like income inequality and climate change, on a patch of grass, known as the Swamp, outside the Capitol — an unusual locale given that senators are not supposed to mix official business with politics. |
| “I think people should be a little bit careful underestimating me,” he said then. | “I think people should be a little bit careful underestimating me,” he said then. |
| Now the senator has a different problem: With his brand of democratic socialism taking root on the Democratic left, so many Democrats sound so much like Bernie Sanders that some are asking why America needs Bernie Sanders. His Medicare for All bill is a case in point. Its co-sponsors include at least four Senate Democrats who are running against him: Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California. | Now the senator has a different problem: With his brand of democratic socialism taking root on the Democratic left, so many Democrats sound so much like Bernie Sanders that some are asking why America needs Bernie Sanders. His Medicare for All bill is a case in point. Its co-sponsors include at least four Senate Democrats who are running against him: Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California. |
| Medicare for All would provide health insurance to all Americans under a single plan run by the government and financed by taxpayers; private insurers could remain in business but could only provide benefits, such as elective surgery, not covered by the government. | Medicare for All would provide health insurance to all Americans under a single plan run by the government and financed by taxpayers; private insurers could remain in business but could only provide benefits, such as elective surgery, not covered by the government. |
| The main drawback is the cost — as high as $32 trillion over 10 years, according to the plan’s critics. But the Sanders camp cites studies, including one by the RAND Corporation, that show Medicare for All would save middle-class families money by decreasing their premiums and out-of-pocket costs. | The main drawback is the cost — as high as $32 trillion over 10 years, according to the plan’s critics. But the Sanders camp cites studies, including one by the RAND Corporation, that show Medicare for All would save middle-class families money by decreasing their premiums and out-of-pocket costs. |
| As to why America needs Bernie Sanders, Mr. Sanders’s answer is simple: He was there first. | As to why America needs Bernie Sanders, Mr. Sanders’s answer is simple: He was there first. |
| “Find out how many folks in the 1980s were going up to Canada to learn about Medicare for All,” he said, adding: “In 1999, I took a busload of Vermonters across the Canadian border to purchase low-cost prescription drugs in Canada. O.K., I was the first member of Congress to do that. So are other people talking about the greed of the pharmaceutical industry? Yes. Check out who was there first.” | “Find out how many folks in the 1980s were going up to Canada to learn about Medicare for All,” he said, adding: “In 1999, I took a busload of Vermonters across the Canadian border to purchase low-cost prescription drugs in Canada. O.K., I was the first member of Congress to do that. So are other people talking about the greed of the pharmaceutical industry? Yes. Check out who was there first.” |
| He also threw some shade on another of his competitors, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, suggesting she lifted one of his ideas. | He also threw some shade on another of his competitors, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, suggesting she lifted one of his ideas. |
| “I know one of my colleagues who is running for president talks about a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan,” he said. “Well, we were talking about that how many years ago? 2015?” | “I know one of my colleagues who is running for president talks about a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan,” he said. “Well, we were talking about that how many years ago? 2015?” |
| He later identified the colleague as Ms. Klobuchar, who threw some shade of her own. “Klobuchar said that she agreed with Senator Sanders that there is growing support for her infrastructure plan,” she wrote in an email message, offering this quotation: “While a big infrastructure plan has been kicked around for years, I can get it done.” | He later identified the colleague as Ms. Klobuchar, who threw some shade of her own. “Klobuchar said that she agreed with Senator Sanders that there is growing support for her infrastructure plan,” she wrote in an email message, offering this quotation: “While a big infrastructure plan has been kicked around for years, I can get it done.” |
| Mr. Sanders has always been a gruff — some would say grating — presence in the Senate. He plows through the Capitol corridors, red-faced and rumpled, too busy to talk and wearing a scowl more often than a smile. (“If you worked here, you wouldn’t smile either,” he said.) | Mr. Sanders has always been a gruff — some would say grating — presence in the Senate. He plows through the Capitol corridors, red-faced and rumpled, too busy to talk and wearing a scowl more often than a smile. (“If you worked here, you wouldn’t smile either,” he said.) |
| His official website offers a hint of where the job falls on his priority list: It has not been updated to reflect his re-election in 2018, and still says he is “serving his second term after winning re-election in 2012.” | His official website offers a hint of where the job falls on his priority list: It has not been updated to reflect his re-election in 2018, and still says he is “serving his second term after winning re-election in 2012.” |
| He is thinner these days, having dropped 10 pounds on no particular diet — or at least none that he cares to share. (“By not eating,” he said, when asked how he did it.) | He is thinner these days, having dropped 10 pounds on no particular diet — or at least none that he cares to share. (“By not eating,” he said, when asked how he did it.) |
| And though his “national support has given Bernie more credibility,” in the words of Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, his colleagues say not much has changed. | And though his “national support has given Bernie more credibility,” in the words of Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, his colleagues say not much has changed. |
| “He’s Bernie,” said Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, who ran for vice president alongside Mrs. Clinton after she defeated Mr. Sanders for the 2016 Democratic nomination. “Whether that’s running or just being Bernie, he kind of does what he does.” | “He’s Bernie,” said Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, who ran for vice president alongside Mrs. Clinton after she defeated Mr. Sanders for the 2016 Democratic nomination. “Whether that’s running or just being Bernie, he kind of does what he does.” |