Off the Grid: A Duel - Bernie Sanders Takes on Hillary Clinton

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is finally going to announce his campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday, making him the first person to officially challenge Hillary Clinton for the White House. This Independent politician will be running as a Democrat because as we all know, you've got to belong to one of the two major parties to get anything done in America. He's the longest serving independent member of Congress so trading sides has to be a tough bullet to swallow. That being said, we're glad he's adding something different to the ballot. 

Sanders joined the Senate in 2007 and has been representing Vermont in the U.S. House for 16 years. In a conversation with the LA Times, Sanders said, 

"Setting aside labels, I am somebody who believes that government in a democratic society should be representing the needs of the vast majority of the people who are middle-class and working families. At the current point, we are living in a society which is moving more and more toward an oligarchic form of society where government is dominated heavily by big-money interests."

He decided to run because he believes the people who make up the largest piece of the pie are not being represented and their voices aren't being heard. Sanders has also said that he is not running against Hillary Clinton but running for the most important issues facing our nation stating,

"I don’t believe in trashing my opponents. I’ve never run a negative ad in my life. I believe in talking about issues, sometimes fighting for the media to talk about the issues, but that’s what I do, and the people will decide."

If you support Bernie Sanders, let us know! It would be nice to see someone who has identified as an Independent take over the White House. For all the reasons why you shouldn't vote for the lesser of two evils in 2016, check out our video below. 

-By Brigida Santos, The Off the Grid Team