It’s the Home Stretch in Iowa. But Where Are All the Candidates?
Sue Ogrocki/AP Bernie Sanders’ town hall in Creston, Iowa, on Friday afternoon had most of the trappings of the hectic homestretch of a presidential campaign. At a community college auditorium an hour southwest of Des Moines, volunteers handed out cards with information about caucus sites, and a local field organizer gave a hard-sell about picking…
Warren vs. Sanders: Inside the Progressive Debate Over the Student Debt Crisis
Mother Jones illustration; Getty Last April, the socialist magazine Jacobin had a message for its favorite presidential candidate: “As President, Bernie Sanders Should Cancel All Student Debt.” The secretary of Education, the magazine argued, could wipe out most of the $1.6 trillion in outstanding college loans “with the stroke of a pen.” As his reward,…
Is Bernie Sanders the Next George McGovern—or the Next Donald Trump?
John Locher/AP BerniePanic has set in. As the Iowa caucuses approach, Democratic establishmentarians and we-gotta-beat Trump pundits have begun to fret about the Sanders surge. They fear the prospect of the Vermont (small-d) democratic socialist triumphing in the Hawkeye State, winning in New Hampshire, and then becoming an unstoppable force in the remaining primaries. Is…
Hear the Bern: Why Bernie Sanders Strikes a Chord With Musicians
Evan Vucci/AP Evan Weiss was surprised when he got a text message asking if his band could perform at a rally for Bernie Sanders in Coralville, Iowa, in November. The text came from an old friend of Weiss who works for Sanders’ campaign as an event coordinator and has a hand in booking the music…
What a Bloomberg Candidacy Could Mean for Climate
Democratic presidential candidate, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on November 25, 2019.Drew Angerer/Getty This piece was originally published in Grist and appears here as part of our Climate Desk Partnership. This weekend, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg entered the presidential race in classic billionaire style: by buying up $30 million worth of TV…
Presidential Candidates Wouldn’t Touch This Radical Idea to Transform Agriculture—Until Now
Mother Jones illustration; John Minchillo/AP; Getty Food and agriculture policies have been at best a fringe issues during the last few Democratic presidential primaries. Candidates tend limit their agricultural appeals to “broad value statements” rather than dive into the policy specifics “that would indicate they’ve given these issues the attention they deserve,” says Sarah Hackney,…