MoveOn Endorses Sanders in a Landslide: 78 percent of Its Members Back Bernie

Bernie Sanders. (Phil Roeder / CC BY 2.0)

One of the nation’s most prominent progressive networks, MoveOn, endorsed the Vermont senator after 78.6 percent of its members backed him in an online “primary” that drew 340,665 votes — a greater number than the voters expected to participate in the February contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.

John Nichols reported at The Nation:

“This is a massive vote in favor of Bernie Sanders, showing that grassroots progressives across the country are excited and inspired by his message and track record of standing up to big money and corporate interests to reclaim our democracy for the American people,” MoveOn.org Political Action executive director Ilya Sheyman said Tuesday. “MoveOn members are feeling the Bern. We will mobilize aggressively to add our collective people power to the growing movement behind the Sanders campaign, starting with a focus on voter turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire.”

In the MoveOn vote, 78.6 percent backed Sanders, 14.6 percent backed Clinton and 0.9 percent backed O’Malley.

MoveOn leaders say they are “poised to mobilize thousands of volunteers, make thousands of phone calls to potential voters, and recruit more small-dollar donors to support Sanders. MoveOn’s first priority will be turning out its 43,000 members in Iowa and 30,000 members in New Hampshire—the first caucus and primary states, where polling shows the candidates running neck-and-neck.” […]

Sanders has won endorsements from unions such as National Nurses United, the American Postal Workers Union, and the Communications Workers of America, as well as the environmental group Friends of the Earth Action.

In recent online votes by progressive groups, Sanders has won a number of endorsements. When Democracy for America voted in December, the senator won 88 percent, and the group’s backing. Earlier in the month, when the Working Families Party members voted online, he won 87.4 percent. The WFP also endorsed Sanders, as have Progressive Democrats of America and Democratic Socialists of America. […]

“Bernie’s vote total and percentage are MoveOn records—the best any presidential candidate has performed in our 17-year history,” explained MoveOn executive director Sheyman, who said the group was “pledged to run a 100% positive campaign” for Sanders.