Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday said he’s worried about Democratic voter turnout ahead of the upcoming midterms.
“I am worried about the level of voter turnout among young people and working people who will be voting Democratic,” the independent Vermont senator who caucuses with Democrats told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” when asked what Sanders is seeing and hearing about energy among Democratic voters right now.
Early in-person voting has already started in many states with competitive elections this midterm cycle including Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina and Nevada.
Sanders went on to say Democrats have to contrast their economic plan with the Republicans.
“I think what we have got to do is contrast what a strong pro-worker Democratic position is with the corporate agenda of the Republicans,” he said.
When asked by Tapper why voters who hear Democrats’ messaging and think that the party has been in control of Congress and the White House should still vote for Democrats next month, Sanders noted their majority is slim and contrasted the party’s work on reducing the effects of inflation compared to Republicans’ plans.
“What are the Republicans’ response to inflation? What do they want to do? Well, maybe they want to cut wages for workers. Do they want to raise the minimum wage? No, they don’t.”
Sanders continued, “So I think it’s important to take the attack to the Republicans. What do they want to do other than complain?”
On rising crime rates, Sanders advocated for attacking the societal sources of addiction.
“Crime is a real issue. Violence is a real issue and I’ll tell you something, I go all over the state of Vermont. This drug problem and the addiction to drugs and the violence that drug causes is a huge problem all over this country,” he said. “So we have got to focus in a smart way not in a way that that foments fear,” which would include, “making investment in our young people, in good education, in good job training, and making sure that we have good law enforcement doing the right job all over this country.”
