Bernie Sanders isn’t running to push Hillary Clinton to the left, the senator said on Thursday, rejecting the idea that his long shot candidacy is aimed at issues, not winning.
“This is not an education campaign. This is not a protest campaign,” an animated Sanders said at the Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington. “This is a campaign to win.”
Since announcing his campaign for president in late April, Sanders has been greeted by sizable crowds in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire. Though he finds himself polling far behind Clinton, Sanders has been her most potent progressive challenger so far.
But political watchers and pundits have suggested that Sanders’s primary effect on the race will be to push the former secretary of state to the left on issues, not mount a credible challenge to her for the Democratic nomination.
Sanders rejected that notion on Thursday, arguing that while he is aware his pathway to the presidency is far more uphill than Clinton’s, he has a chance.
“I freely admit what everyone here knows, that Secretary Clinton goes into this campaign as a heavy favorite,” he said. “The polls today show her way out in front.”
Sanders said his campaign is feeling “momentum” — a word often used by long shot candidates — and told the assembled reporters that well over 200,000 people have signed up to be a part of his campaign.
“My views, obviously in this campaign, would be the most progressive views that have been brought forth by a candidate for president of the United States of America in a long time,” Sanders said.
The Vermont senator, who is an independent but caucuses with the Democrats in Congress, took on Clinton over the Trans Pacific Partnership, a massive, multi-national trade deal that has stirred vehement liberal opposition. Clinton has outlined the criteria she would need to approve the trade deal, but has not outright said whether she supports or rejects the TPP.
Sanders said he doesn’t “understand how on an issue of such huge consequence, you don’t have an opinion.”
“If she is against this, we need her to speak out, right now, right now,” he added.