Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling for "Democratic unity" to help pass President Biden's Build Back Better Act, to which Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) have notably remained key hurdles (both lawmakers have issues with the legislation's size and certain provisions).
In a Fox News op-ed published Wednesday, Sanders wrote that "the question of whether we finally deliver consequential legislation to improve the lives of working class families comes down to Democratic unity."
"Will all Democrats stand together to protect the interests of the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor?" he added. Will "all Democrats" agree to take on the pharmaceutical and health care industries, as well as corrupt campaign money? "I certainly hope so," Sanders concluded.
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The Vermont senator also noted that the provisions currently included in the party's sweeping spending and social safety net package are quite popular with the American public — at the very least, with Democratic voters. A new CNN poll found that 75 percent of the party's constituents "prefer a bill that goes further to expand the social safety net and combat climate change over one that costs less and enacts fewer of those policies." Just 20 percent of voters prefer a scaled-back version; notably, even two-thirds of moderate and conservative Democrats are in favor of the more robust package.
The final scope of the legislation has yet to be agreed upon, and unfortunately for Sanders, the ostensible subjects of his op-ed subtweet may not even have demands that overlap.
CNN and SSRS surveyed 1,000 respondents from Oct. 7-11, 2021. Results have a margin of error 4.2 percent. Read Sanders' full write-up at Fox News, and see more results at CNN.
