The DNC is voting whether to urge Bernie Sanders to become a Democrat


The Democratic National Committee will consider a resolution that calls on independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine) to run as members of the Democratic Party in 2018.
Although the resolution, sponsored by California DNC member Bob Mulholland, "recognizes the important contributions of the independent senators from Maine and Vermont to causes at the heart of the Democratic Party's mission," it calls for "candidates and voters who share common goals and beliefs to register or affiliate with the Democratic Party in 2017, 2018, and beyond.”
In July of 2017, Morning Consult released its rankings of "America's Most and Least Popular Senators." Both Sanders and King ranked in the country's top 10. In the same rankings, more than half of the country's senators have negative net approval ratings in their respective states. HuffPost's most recent poll charts show the Democratic Party has a 49.7 percent unfavorable rating, and just a 38.1 percent favorable rating.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska