Sanders returns to New Hampshire after first debate, makes case for his electability

HOLLIS, N.H. — Two nights after former Vice President and frontrunner for the Democratic nomination Joe Biden suffered a setback in the first debates, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders returned to the state that he won in a landslide four years ago and made the case that he is the best candidate to defeat President Donald Trump. 

At an awards dinner for local grassroots activists in Hollis, New Hampshire on Saturday night, Sanders laid out his map to the White House, naming the specific states that he feels he is well-positioned to flip from red to blue in a general election. "We think we could win not only here in New Hampshire but in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin," he said. "Polls have us even ahead in Florida and North Carolina."

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders addresses the Hillsborough County Democrats Grassroots Awards Dinner at the Alpine Grove banquet facility in Hollis, N.H. two nights after his appearance in the first Democratic presidential debates.

Speaking to an audience of state representatives, party volunteers and grassroots activists, Sanders aimed his attacks squarely at Trump. "It is absolutely imperative that we defeat the most dangerous president in the history of this country," he said. 

The Vermont independent added that he was not going to criticize any of his Democratic rivals. "I know virtually all of the 23-24 Democratic candidates," he said. "I know a number of them quite well. And almost without exceptions, these are serious and good people. You're not going to hear me disparaging anyone." 

Yet Sanders opened with the argument that he was the most electable of the two dozen candidates, describing how he reached that conclusion after "innumerable discussions" with his wife Jane Sanders. His rationale rested upon the influence of his 2016 campaign on the agenda of the 2020 Democratic contest. "There was a Wall Street [Journal] editorial today that said Sanders won both debates, even the one I wasn't there [for]," he said.

Sanders also cited his support among young people and working class people who first connected with his campaign four years ago. The enduring popularity of the Vermont Senator in New Hampshire especially was attested to by several Sanders supporters in attendance.

Mary Heslin, a Sanders volunteer from Concord, New Hampshire, said that after talking to voters at the Concord Market Days Festival last week, she was confident that Sanders supporters in her area, especially young people, still backed him. "The base is tight," she said. "The kids are behind him. You can't poll them. They don't answer the phones."

Heslin said that Sanders has "lost some to Warren but not many" and explained that voters switch their allegiance for various reasons, most often because they want a female candidate or a younger candidate. She joked however that only old people are concerned about Sanders' age and told a story about an 18-year-old voter who dismissed Biden as "an old white man" but insisted that "Bernie is not an old white man."

Sanders, who arrived at the annual event hosted by the Hillsborough County Democrats around 6:20 p.m. to a standing ovation, first sat down for dinner with several local elected officials, something that other presidential candidates do not always do according to Adam Huberty, an organizer with the SEA/SEIU Local 1984 and a longtime Sanders supporter.

Huberty, who worked for Sanders off and on in Vermont before joining his New Hampshire campaign staff in 2015, said he feels "very good" about Sanders' 2020 chances in the state and expected the Vermont Senator to finish first or second. He said that Sanders, unlike Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, is "not building from scratch" and that his support from four years ago "never went away."

State representative Mark King of Nashua, a Sanders delegate at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, similarly said there was still "a lot of energy" around Sanders and described his candidate as "a proven person."

While King explained that progressive organizations in the state "can't really declare their sympathies" because "their members are still deciding," he said Sanders marched with a "huge and highly energized" contingent at the Nashua Pride Parade on Saturday morning. King said other candidates were represented at the parade, but had smaller delegations.

King also echoed another theme of the night: how a President Sanders would govern. A Barack Obama supporter and volunteer in the 2008 primary and the 2008 and 2012 general elections, King expressed frustration with the 44th president for not harnessing the power of the grassroots to achieve more in office. "If you break people's hearts and don't follow through, they feel like the system's broken," King said.

In his speech, Sanders promised to bring a different approach to the White House. He paraphrased the Frederick Douglass quote "if there is no struggle, there is no progress" and told voters that "real change" never happens unless a president is backed by a large-scale social movement. "I want your help to win New Hampshire but I need your help the day after I am inaugurated," he said.

Sanders concluded his time by returning to the language of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which brought issues of income and wealth inequality into the mainstream in 2011. "The good news is that the 1 percent is 1 percent and we are the 99 percent," Sanders said.

"Let's bring our people together."

This work is made possible by the Russell H. Bostert Memorial Fellowship at Williams College.