usatoday--2020-03-09--Here's what's keeping Michigan unions from endorsing a presidential candidate

WASHINGTON — A once-large field of Democrats running for president might have been an argument for organized labor to help members decide who to back among them but most major unions appear to be forgoing endorsements ahead of Michigan ’ s Tuesday primary .
It may be a risky move .
By not coalescing behind one candidate , it potentially increases the likelihood that the overall union vote will be split .
That could help Sen. Bernie Sanders , once the leader in national delegates who also won Michigan in 2016 , secure the nomination , though some are skeptical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plan to create a government health plan and end benefit plans bargained for by unions .
And there are lingering questions whether Sanders , an avowed democratic socialist , is the Democrats ' best chance of beating President Donald Trump , especially among working-class voters in Michigan and across the industrial Midwest , with union households trending more toward Trump and his populist , anti-trade deal message in the last election .
Four years ago , Trump got more support from union households nationally than Mitt Romney did in 2012 , eating into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In Michigan , Pennsylvania and Wisconsin , the states most responsible for Trump 's victory , Clinton saw support as much as 15 percentage points lower than it had been for President Barack Obama four years before .
'Can ’ t take any of them for granted ' : Meet the key swing-state voters who could decide if Trump 's reelected Trump 's support , meanwhile , was up everywhere .
Nationally , his support among union households hit 42 % , according to polls , compared with Romney 's 39 % in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after the bloc even more this year , arguing that renegotiated trade deals are good for labor — with some leaders in agreement .
But many argue that other policies , such as installing conservative-minded judges who have ruled against unions collecting fees from nonmembers and passing tax cuts more favorable to corporations and wealthy people than working-class people provide a chance to bring union voters back into the Democratic fold .
While that might argue for an early intervention by organized labor this year , it has n't materialized .
Of all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden is the only one to have received substantial endorsements from labor , with the backing of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , the Amalgamated Transit Union and some others .
Sanders , meanwhile , has won endorsements from more locally based unions , such as the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704 , representing about 1,000 workers , including those in Michigan .
Meanwhile , Biden , Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren , who has since left the race , share a three-person endorsement from the American Federation of Teachers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country .
Large organizations such as the UAW , the Service Employees International Union ( SEIU ) , the Teamsters and others have remained on the sidelines .
And while it 's not unusual for some , like the UAW and Teamsters to hold off until somewhat later in the primary season to endorse , in 2016 several big unions had already given Clinton their backing by this point in the race .
They included the SEIU , the American Federation of State , County and Municipal Employees ( AFSCME ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Education Association , the country 's biggest teacher 's union .
`` The key thing here is that labor is going to keep its powder dry until it needs to make a statement , '' said Ed Sarpolus , a veteran pollster with Target-Insyght in Lansing .
`` Labor 's going to say , 'Who can we work with ? '
`` In the early states , that lack of coordination among big labor organizations and their members has paid off for Sanders .
In New Hampshire , exit polls showed Sanders winning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with 23 % for Pete Buttigieg , who came in second and has since left the race .
In Nevada , a heavily unionized state where labor households made up nearly a quarter of those caucusing , polls showed Sanders winning 34 % to Biden 's 21 % .
Sanders did so even after the powerful Culinary Union in Nevada handed out leaflets criticizing his signature Medicare for All plan , suggesting the effort to create a national health care system could cost its 60,000 members their union fought-for benefits .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another candidate and Sanders won handily .
More : In the era of Trump , Michigan 's political map is changing .
Here 's how That could be a lesson for any union that wants to stay on the good side of its members , including those in Michigan .
Former UAW President Bob King , who has endorsed Sanders , said he believes it was a mistake to endorse Clinton in May 2016 — before she became the presumptive nominee — and that members realize that if a comprehensive health plan were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would mean their unions could spend more time bargaining on wages and retirement — not insurance benefits .
`` I don ’ t see members out actively working for someone other than Bernie , '' King said .
A UAW spokesman , Brian Rothenberg , also noted that while the union has made it a goal to negotiate for strong health care it also has `` a long history '' supporting a government provided plan for all Americans .
The risk , however , is that unions , by not trying to organize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic nominee — like Sanders — who some pundits believe may have a harder time beating Trump in the industrial Midwest .
That could be especially true in areas like Macomb County , which helped deliver the state for Trump in 2016 , while also risking votes in places like Oakland County , which has voted for Democratic nominees in recent elections but tends to be somewhat more fiscally conservative than some other areas .
Sanders has been praised by progressives and endorsed by some of Michigan 's leftist-leaning figures , including U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has also been criticized by others who say he would have to raise taxes significantly to pay for plans such as free college tuition and guaranteed child care .
Still others have questioned statements like on `` 60 Minutes '' where he praised some of Fidel Castro 's policies in Cuba while denouncing others .
`` The really leftist policies frighten a lot of people , '' said Dee McBroom , a Detroit political consultant .
`` They really find them incredible . ''
Labor leaders wo n't openly discuss tactical plans , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't endorse in a particular race .
But political consultants and others close to labor say it 's appearing likely most major unions will wait until a nominee is all but decided .
`` They know they need to elect a pro-worker president .
It may be that they have to do less work bringing their members around to a different candidate , '' said Ben Nuckels , who was media consultant to Wisconsin Gov .
Tony Evers in his 2018 victory .
Getting a few percentage points back from Trump among union @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be all it takes to win .
McBroom said there is little question that institutional support among union leaders , especially in Michigan , rested with Biden , who has been a pro-labor force in the Democratic Party for decades .
But his awkward debate appearances and poor showing in the early states — as well as worries that early endorsements for Clinton did n't help in '16 — caused them to reconsider , especially as Sanders has ascended .
`` Two and a half years ago , there was an awful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around Biden , '' she said .
`` Where that is now , I do n't know . ''
It is possible that , headed into Michigan 's primary , more local chapters will endorse but for now , it appears that most major unions are prepared to wait .
Eli Rubin , president of Michigan for Single Payer Healthcare , an advocacy group supporting a single Medicare for All insurance program , said that while stories circulate claiming union leaders may be hostile toward plans like Sanders ' that would force labor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one has actively lobbied against it in front of him .
`` It ’ s just that they say nothing about it , '' he said .
`` When you try to engage them , they 're standoffish . ''
Rubin said he understands that , as labor leaders , they have to `` play ball '' with people actively against a single-payer system .
The board of directors for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan , the largest insurer in the state , includes representatives of the AFL-CIO , Teamsters , UAW @ @ @ @ @ @ @ others .
Rubin added , however , that , in his experience , rank-and-file members `` are all on board '' with Medicare for All , with the exception being , in some cases , retirees worried that their health care could change for the worse at a time of life they could do little about it .
Rubin said he spends some of his time trying to allay those fears .
`` You 'd be surprised how many union workers do not take the approach … that ' I 've got mine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
`` With the vast majority of union members ( it 's ) ' I have great benefits , I want everybody else to have them too . '
`` What polling has been done in Michigan gives some contradictory evidence about where union households may be headed in the primary .
In January , a survey done for the Detroit Regional Chamber of Michigan voters found that only 13 % of union households supported a single-payer Medicare for All plan , compared with 23 % who preferred reforming the Affordable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Medicare option .
More : How Democratic presidential candidates want to change your health care For that poll , 183 union households were contacted , meaning that the margin of error would be far greater than the plus or minus 4 percentage points for the entire poll and its sample of 600 voters overall .
But it is potentially indicative of where many union households stand , and nearly 50 % opposed the idea of giving up their health insurance , compared with 37 % who said they could support it in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jonathan Chapman , 32 , of New Boston , Mich. , is a former UAW member who has friends and family who are still part of labor organizations .
A self-described independent , he voted for Trump four years ago and plans to vote in the March 10 Democratic primary , though he does n't yet know for whom .
`` I could support a moderate , '' he said , but added that he plans to vote again for Trump in November unless `` someone has a total pivot of policy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't necessarily attaching itself to Sanders overall , as a poll by the University of Wisconsin-Madison 's Elections Research Center showed him leading the field in Michigan with 25 % of support , compared with 16 % for Biden and 13 % for Warren and Mike Bloomberg , who has since dropped out .
Organizers of the poll said while the sample of union households was too small to report , Sanders held the edge among them .
No one should think that organized labor — or many people involved in it — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Medicare for All , either .
A look at the names on the board of advisers for the Labor Campaign for Single Payer , an advocacy group , shows names from union locals across the U.S. Mark Dudzic , the group 's national coordinator , said he has spoken at some 200 union halls over the last five years and `` workers really get this . ''
`` I think people don ’ t want to give up the money they put in for their benefits and we ’ re going to fight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into their wages and pensions ) , '' he said .
No matter which direction unions move in , however , expect it to be closely watched .
Trump is expected to make a strong play again for the rank-and-file in Michigan and the industrial Midwest .
Last year , Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com , a statistical analysis site , noted that according to the Cooperative Congressional Election Study , a massive survey done each year , the shifts in union voters from Barack Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016 in Michigan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump 's margins of victories in those states .
State Rep. Brian Elder , D-Bay City , has long worked with labor unions in an economically struggling area that has traditionally been Democratic but flipped to Trump in 2016 .
He has endorsed Biden , but he feels that if Sanders gets the nomination , Bay County will still back him , regardless of any reputation of political conservatism among working-class voters .
`` Blue-collar voters are not politically conservative .
They are culturally conservative and that means , if you ask them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the environment or your ability to pay bills , they 'll say the ability to pay bills because we struggle to pay them . ''
`` But are they all going to be scared because they hear the word socialism ?
Not necessarily as long as ( it 's explained ) that what we 're really talking about is the New Deal , the Great Society and the war on poverty , '' he added .
`` My sort of voters supported those things for generations . ''
Contact Todd Spangler : tspangler @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tsspangler .
Read more onMichigan politics and sign up for ourelections newsletter .
Editor 's note : An earlier version of this story misidentified American Federation of Government Employees Local 704 .

Here's what's keeping Michigan unions from endorsing a presidential candidate
Show Caption Hide Caption How the DNC changed its rules since Sanders, Clinton in 2016 The primaries are here! How does one get elected in the first place and what is in store for the Democratic National Convention in 2020? We explain. Just the FAQs
WASHINGTON — A once-large field of Democrats running for president might have been an argument for organized labor to help members decide who to back among them but most major unions appear to be forgoing endorsements ahead of Michigan’s Tuesday primary.
It may be a risky move.
By not coalescing behind one candidate, it potentially increases the likelihood that the overall union vote will be split. That could help Sen. Bernie Sanders, once the leader in national delegates who also won Michigan in 2016, secure the nomination, though some are skeptical of his independence and support of a plan to create a government health plan and end benefit plans bargained for by unions.
And there are lingering questions whether Sanders, an avowed democratic socialist, is the Democrats' best chance of beating President Donald Trump, especially among working-class voters in Michigan and across the industrial Midwest, with union households trending more toward Trump and his populist, anti-trade deal message in the last election.
Four years ago, Trump got more support from union households nationally than Mitt Romney did in 2012, eating into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's base. In Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the states most responsible for Trump's victory, Clinton saw support as much as 15 percentage points lower than it had been for President Barack Obama four years before.
'Can’t take any of them for granted': Meet the key swing-state voters who could decide if Trump's reelected
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Trump's support, meanwhile, was up everywhere. Nationally, his support among union households hit 42%, according to polls, compared with Romney's 39% in 2012.
Trump is going to go after the bloc even more this year, arguing that renegotiated trade deals are good for labor — with some leaders in agreement. But many argue that other policies, such as installing conservative-minded judges who have ruled against unions collecting fees from nonmembers and passing tax cuts more favorable to corporations and wealthy people than working-class people provide a chance to bring union voters back into the Democratic fold.
While that might argue for an early intervention by organized labor this year, it hasn't materialized.
Of all the candidates, former Vice President Joe Biden is the only one to have received substantial endorsements from labor, with the backing of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Amalgamated Transit Union and some others.
Sanders, meanwhile, has won endorsements from more locally based unions, such as the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, representing about 1,000 workers, including those in Michigan. Meanwhile, Biden, Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has since left the race, share a three-person endorsement from the American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teachers union in the country.
Large organizations such as the UAW, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Teamsters and others have remained on the sidelines. And while it's not unusual for some, like the UAW and Teamsters to hold off until somewhat later in the primary season to endorse, in 2016 several big unions had already given Clinton their backing by this point in the race.
They included the SEIU, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Laborer's Union and the National Education Association, the country's biggest teacher's union.
"The key thing here is that labor is going to keep its powder dry until it needs to make a statement," said Ed Sarpolus, a veteran pollster with Target-Insyght in Lansing. "Labor's going to say, 'Who can we work with?' "
In the early states, that lack of coordination among big labor organizations and their members has paid off for Sanders. In New Hampshire, exit polls showed Sanders winning 30% of union households, compared with 23% for Pete Buttigieg, who came in second and has since left the race. In Nevada, a heavily unionized state where labor households made up nearly a quarter of those caucusing, polls showed Sanders winning 34% to Biden's 21%.
Sanders did so even after the powerful Culinary Union in Nevada handed out leaflets criticizing his signature Medicare for All plan, suggesting the effort to create a national health care system could cost its 60,000 members their union fought-for benefits. In the end, the union declined to endorse another candidate and Sanders won handily.
More: In the era of Trump, Michigan's political map is changing. Here's how
That could be a lesson for any union that wants to stay on the good side of its members, including those in Michigan.
Former UAW President Bob King, who has endorsed Sanders, said he believes it was a mistake to endorse Clinton in May 2016 — before she became the presumptive nominee — and that members realize that if a comprehensive health plan were created to cover all Americans, it would mean their unions could spend more time bargaining on wages and retirement — not insurance benefits.
"I don’t see members out actively working for someone other than Bernie," King said.
A UAW spokesman, Brian Rothenberg, also noted that while the union has made it a goal to negotiate for strong health care it also has "a long history" supporting a government provided plan for all Americans.
The risk, however, is that unions, by not trying to organize members, could wind up with a Democratic nominee — like Sanders — who some pundits believe may have a harder time beating Trump in the industrial Midwest.
That could be especially true in areas like Macomb County, which helped deliver the state for Trump in 2016, while also risking votes in places like Oakland County, which has voted for Democratic nominees in recent elections but tends to be somewhat more fiscally conservative than some other areas.
Sanders has been praised by progressives and endorsed by some of Michigan's leftist-leaning figures, including U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, but has also been criticized by others who say he would have to raise taxes significantly to pay for plans such as free college tuition and guaranteed child care. Still others have questioned statements like on "60 Minutes" where he praised some of Fidel Castro's policies in Cuba while denouncing others.
"The really leftist policies frighten a lot of people," said Dee McBroom, a Detroit political consultant. "They really find them incredible."
Labor leaders won't openly discuss tactical plans, such as whether they will or won't endorse in a particular race. But political consultants and others close to labor say it's appearing likely most major unions will wait until a nominee is all but decided.
"They know they need to elect a pro-worker president. It may be that they have to do less work bringing their members around to a different candidate," said Ben Nuckels, who was media consultant to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers in his 2018 victory.
Getting a few percentage points back from Trump among union voters in November, he said, would be all it takes to win.
Biden had been a favorite
McBroom said there is little question that institutional support among union leaders, especially in Michigan, rested with Biden, who has been a pro-labor force in the Democratic Party for decades. But his awkward debate appearances and poor showing in the early states — as well as worries that early endorsements for Clinton didn't help in '16 — caused them to reconsider, especially as Sanders has ascended.
"Two and a half years ago, there was an awful lot of unanimity in the labor movement around Biden," she said. "Where that is now, I don't know."
It is possible that, headed into Michigan's primary, more local chapters will endorse but for now, it appears that most major unions are prepared to wait.
Eli Rubin, president of Michigan for Single Payer Healthcare, an advocacy group supporting a single Medicare for All insurance program, said that while stories circulate claiming union leaders may be hostile toward plans like Sanders' that would force labor to give up private insurance, no one has actively lobbied against it in front of him.
"It’s just that they say nothing about it," he said. "When you try to engage them, they're standoffish."
Rubin said he understands that, as labor leaders, they have to "play ball" with people actively against a single-payer system. The board of directors for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the largest insurer in the state, includes representatives of the AFL-CIO, Teamsters, UAW and the Michigan Education Association, among others.
Rubin added, however, that, in his experience, rank-and-file members "are all on board" with Medicare for All, with the exception being, in some cases, retirees worried that their health care could change for the worse at a time of life they could do little about it. Rubin said he spends some of his time trying to allay those fears.
"You'd be surprised how many union workers do not take the approach … that 'I've got mine, screw everybody else,' " he said. "With the vast majority of union members (it's) 'I have great benefits, I want everybody else to have them too.' "
Polls paint an unclear level of support
What polling has been done in Michigan gives some contradictory evidence about where union households may be headed in the primary.
In January, a survey done for the Detroit Regional Chamber of Michigan voters found that only 13% of union households supported a single-payer Medicare for All plan, compared with 23% who preferred reforming the Affordable Care Act and 43% who supported a Medicare option.
More: How Democratic presidential candidates want to change your health care
For that poll, 183 union households were contacted, meaning that the margin of error would be far greater than the plus or minus 4 percentage points for the entire poll and its sample of 600 voters overall. But it is potentially indicative of where many union households stand, and nearly 50% opposed the idea of giving up their health insurance, compared with 37% who said they could support it in order to get Medicare for All.
Jonathan Chapman, 32, of New Boston, Mich., is a former UAW member who has friends and family who are still part of labor organizations. A self-described independent, he voted for Trump four years ago and plans to vote in the March 10 Democratic primary, though he doesn't yet know for whom.
"I could support a moderate," he said, but added that he plans to vote again for Trump in November unless "someone has a total pivot of policy."
But that sort of skepticism isn't necessarily attaching itself to Sanders overall, as a poll by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Elections Research Center showed him leading the field in Michigan with 25% of support, compared with 16% for Biden and 13% for Warren and Mike Bloomberg, who has since dropped out. Organizers of the poll said while the sample of union households was too small to report, Sanders held the edge among them.
No one should think that organized labor — or many people involved in it — aren't part of the fight for Medicare for All, either. A look at the names on the board of advisers for the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, an advocacy group, shows names from union locals across the U.S.
Mark Dudzic, the group's national coordinator, said he has spoken at some 200 union halls over the last five years and "workers really get this."
"I think people don’t want to give up the money they put in for their benefits and we’re going to fight for that (to be put back into their wages and pensions)," he said.
No matter which direction unions move in, however, expect it to be closely watched. Trump is expected to make a strong play again for the rank-and-file in Michigan and the industrial Midwest.
Last year, Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com, a statistical analysis site, noted that according to the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, a massive survey done each year, the shifts in union voters from Barack Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016 in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were larger than Trump's margins of victories in those states.
State Rep. Brian Elder, D-Bay City, has long worked with labor unions in an economically struggling area that has traditionally been Democratic but flipped to Trump in 2016. He has endorsed Biden, but he feels that if Sanders gets the nomination, Bay County will still back him, regardless of any reputation of political conservatism among working-class voters.
"Blue-collar voters are not politically conservative. They are culturally conservative and that means, if you ask them what’s a bigger priority, the environment or your ability to pay bills, they'll say the ability to pay bills because we struggle to pay them."
"But are they all going to be scared because they hear the word socialism? Not necessarily as long as (it's explained) that what we're really talking about is the New Deal, the Great Society and the war on poverty," he added. "My sort of voters supported those things for generations."
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter. Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misidentified American Federation of Government Employees Local 704.


usatoday--2020-03-10--With all eyes on Michigan, six states head to the polls in the Democratic primary

Follow along today for live updates from primaries across the country .
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders are separated by fewer than 100 delegates as six states – Idaho , Michigan , Mississippi , Missouri , North Dakota and Washington – head out to vote Tuesday .
Biden currently leads with 664 delegates while Sanders is in striking distance at 573 .
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii also remains in the Democratic primary , but has only amassed two delegates in the first 19 contests .
On the heels of last week 's Super Tuesday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ race , both candidates have their eyes on Michigan .
More : How coronavirus could affect the six states slated to hold Democratic elections Tuesday Michigan has 125 delegates up for grabs – the most of the day .
And in 2016 , Sanders had a surprising victory in the state over Hillary Clinton , who had been leading in polling .
But Biden got good news Monday with a Detroit Free Press poll showing him in the lead at 51 % support and Sanders at 27 % .
Washington , which has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being awarded Tuesday , could also be close , with Biden and Sanders neck and neck in recent polling .
Sanders overwhelmingly won Washington in 2016 , and he has won all of the Western states that have held contests so far this year .

Bernie Sanders vows to stay in the Democratic race after disappointing showing Tuesday – updates
Show Caption Hide Caption Sanders stays in; looks forward to "one-on-one debate" with Biden Bernie Sanders will soldier on despite a disappointing Tuesday that saw his path to the Democratic presidential nomination narrow considerably. USA TODAY, Wochit
Follow along for live updates from primaries across the country.
Bernie Sanders says he's staying in the race
Bernie Sanders is vowing to soldier on despite a disappointing Tuesday that saw his path to the Democratic presidential nomination narrow considerably.
Sanders said he will be on the debate stage Sunday night in Arizona, the first time since former vice president Joe Biden scored big wins on Super Tuesday and March 10. It will be the first time Biden and Sanders are set to appear on stage without any other candidates.
After Tuesday night's primaries, Biden leads Sanders by nearly 200 pledged national delegates.
Sanders did not speak Tuesday after a disappointing night that saw him lose Democratic primaries in Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi and – the night’s largest prize – Michigan, which he won four years ago when he ran for the nomination against Hillary Clinton.
Biden saw his led in delegates grow thanks to those victories, giving him a sold lead heading into a slate of states next week that are expected to favor the former vice president.
— Ledyard King
Sanders wins North Dakota
Bernie Sanders won the North Dakota caucuses Tuesday, capturing a state that has 14 delegates.
The Vermont senator won the state four years ago, beating Hillary Clinton by nearly 40 percentage points. The Associated Press reported that after votes in Fargo were tallied, Sanders had 53% of the vote compared to 40% by former Vice President Joe Biden.
It was a lone bright spot on a night when former Vice President Joe Biden was racking up big victories in other states holding elections Tuesday, including Mississippi and Missouri.
Bernie Sanders trails Joe Biden in primary, gap widens Bernie Sanders trails Joe Biden in primary election, widening the gap in delegates. Few chances remain to retake the lead as primary calendar closes. Hannah Gaber, USA TODAY
Joe Biden projected winner of Democratic primary in Idaho
Former Vice President Joe Biden is projected to win the Idaho primary, according to Associated Press voter surveys, where 20 pledged delegates are at stake.
This is Biden’s fourth win of the night, after winning Mississippi, Missouri and Michigan.
Sanders won Idaho in 2016 against Hillary Clinton when the state still had caucuses. Democrats in Idaho held a primary this year for the first time.
This is the second state Sanders has lost Tuesday evening that he won four years ago. He won Michigan in 2016. Currently, Washington is too close to call. That was another state that Sanders won overwhelmingly when he went up against Clinton.
In the general election, President Donald Trump is projected by the Associated Press to win Idaho. He handily won the state in 2016 with more than half the state voting him into office.
- Rebecca Morin
Difference between caucus and primary, explained The 2020 election is nearing and with that, comes the caucuses and primary elections. But what’s the difference? Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
Washington state proves a close contest
The Washington state contest between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders remained too close to call Tuesday night.
The candidates each had about 33% of the vote, with about 1 million votes counted and about 290,000 votes on hand to be processed, according to the Washington Secretary of State. The vote was conducted entirely by mail and more ballots could arrive.
Washington, which has 89 delegates, proved the most hotly contested of six states Tuesday. Michigan, Missouri and Mississippi each handed big wins to Biden.
But with two-thirds of Washington’s votes counted, Sanders and Biden were neck and neck. An average of polls in Washington had suggested Biden and Sanders were in a dead heat, with about 35% support each, according to a summary by FiveThirtyEight.com.
- Bart Jansen
Former Vice President Joe Biden conciliatory in victory
Former Vice President Joe Biden struck a conciliatory tone Tuesday in declaring victories in primaries against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in Michigan, Missouri and Mississippi, according to an Associated Press analysis of voter surveys.
“Although there is a way to go, it looks like we’re going to have another good night,” a subdued Biden said in Philadelphia, after canceling a rally in Cleveland because of concerns about the coronavirus.
Biden thanked Sanders and his supporters for their tireless efforts to defeat President Donald Trump, as he sought to unite the party. Biden said the campaign was taking off and he expected to do well from now on.
“We share a common goal and together we’ll defeat Donald Trump,” Biden said. “We’ll defeat him together.”
Three other states were also voting Tuesday: Washington state and Idaho were also holding primaries, and North Dakota held caucuses.
The victories Tuesday built on Biden’s earlier wins in Texas and across southern states, where he capitalized on strong support among African American voters. His win Feb. 29 in South Carolina turned around his campaign. His Super Tuesday wins on March 3 included Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.
“To all those who have been knocked down, to all those who have been counted out, left behind, this is your campaign,” Biden said. “It’s a comeback for the soul of this nation.”
- Bart Jansen
Sanders losing the states he won four years ago
Bernie Sanders has a big problem that’s making the presidential nomination a fading hope: he’s losing a number of states he won four years ago.
Maine, Minnesota and Oklahoma all went for the Vermont senator in 2016 when he ran against Hillary Clinton. But he lost those three on Super Tuesday last week to Joe Biden.
Then on Tuesday, Sanders suffered perhaps the biggest blow: Michigan is projected to go big for Biden four years after the Wolverine State gave Sanders arguably his most prized victory in 2016.
Sanders, who is reportedly in Vermont, is not expected to speak Tuesday, according to the campaign.
It hasn’t been all bad for Sanders, who won Nevada and California this cycle after losing them to Clinton in 2016.
Barring a big surprise, or a dramatic development at their first one-on-one debate Sunday, it appears increasingly unlikely that Sanders will have a path to the nomination.
Clinton beat Sanders in the four large states - Florida, Illinois and Ohio, Arizona - which vote March 17th, and Georgia on March 24th. Clinton won all five against Sanders in 2016.
- Ledyard King
Yang endorses Biden
Andrew Yang endorsed Joe Biden on CNN Tuesday night.
"The math says Joe is our prohibitive nominee. We need to bring the party together. We need to start working on defeating Donald Trump in the fall," Yang says.
Biden projected to win Michigan for biggest prize Tuesday
Former Vice President Joe Biden is projected to beat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in Michigan on Tuesday, according to Associated Press voter surveys.
The projected win, coming as polls closed in Michigan, solidifies his lead in the Democratic primaries after turning around his campaign in South Carolina and a majority of Super Tuesday states.
Calling races with no results: How does AP declare winners with 0% reporting?
Michigan’s 125 pledged delegates gave Biden the biggest prize among six state contests Tuesday. His victory was expected, after a Monday poll by EPIC-MRA for the Detroit Free Press showed a healthy lead – 51% to 27% – against Sanders.
The win extended Biden’s lead against Sanders for the Democratic nomination to challenge President Donald Trump. Both candidates looked to Michigan to signal how they would perform across the industrial Midwest, before Ohio and Illinois vote March 17, Wisconsin on April 7 and Pennsylvania on April 28.
Sanders, who narrowly won Michigan against eventual nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016, argued that union workers would support him because of Biden’s support for “disastrous” trade deals. Sanders blamed the loss of millions of good-paying jobs on the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, and on normalizing trade with China, under what was called Permanent Normal Trade Relations.
But Biden promoted the auto industry bailout that began under President George W. Bush and expanded at the start of President Barack Obama’s administration. The auto bailout helped General Motors and Chrysler weather the Great Recession – and the companies repaid the federal government for the help. By the end of 2018, $63 billion was repaid, the government received $8.4 billion in income and about $16.6 billion was written off as a loss, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Gov. Jennifer Granholm each endorsed Biden, saying he was the official who championed the auto industry and the millions of Midwest jobs that depend on it.
“Michigan is not going to forget,” Granholm told CNN. “We were on our knees and Joe Biden picked us up and carried us on his shoulders.”
– Bart Jansen
Trump campaign manager: opponent irrelevant
Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said the president is on an unstoppable drive toward re-election, no matter who is the Democratic nominee.
“It has never mattered who the Democrat nominee turns out to be, and now that there are only two options left, it is clear that they are two sides of the same coin,” Parscale said. “The Democrat candidate for president will be running on a big government socialist agenda regardless of the name on the ballot.”
- Bart Jansen
American's oldest gun violence prevention group endorses Biden
Declaring that the 2020 Democratic primary had "all but come to an end," the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the nation's oldest gun violence prevention group, threw its weight behind former Vice President Joe Biden.
"Based on his record, his character, and his dedication to gun violence prevention, CSGV is proud to endorse Joe Biden. He is the only candidate in this race who has the ability to heal this nation and build a safer America for future generations," the group said in a statement.
The group, which was founded in 1974, was critical of Sen. Bernie Sanders' past positions on gun control but was appreciative of his "embrace" of gun control measures.
After tonight's early results, though, with Biden projected to win Missouri, Mississippi, and Michigan, the group said Sanders' "path to the nomination is no longer viable."
-Nicholas Wu
Large Democratic Super PAC endorses Biden
The chairman of Priorities USA, a large Democratic super PAC with the goal of defeating President Donald Trump, said Tuesday night that they believe the former Vice President will be the nominee, and they are backing him.
The comments came as Biden was being declared the winner of Tuesday night primaries.
“The math is now clear. Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee for President and Priority USA is going to do everything we can to help him defeat Donald Trump in November,” Guy Cecil tweeted Tuesday. “I hope others will join us in the fight.”
Cecil had said earlier that the PAC would "remain neutral" but shifted after it became "clear" that Biden was on his way to being the nominee, according to Politico.
The super PAC — which was founded in 2011 and supported former President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign — had already previously pledged to spend $150 million against Trump.
--Savannah Behrmann
Large Democratic Super PACs endorses Biden
Priority USA and American Bridge, two large outside Democratic super PACs with the goal of defeating President Donald Trump, said Tuesday, after Joe Biden’s wins in key primary states, they will back the former Vice President
“The math is now clear. Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee for President and Priority USA is going to do everything we can to help him defeat Donald Trump in November,” The chairman of Priorities USA Guy Cecil tweeted Tuesday. “I hope others will join us in the fight.”
Bradley Beychok, President and Cofounder of American Bridge, said that the PAC “has been ready to support the eventual Democratic nominee for the last 2 years,” while touting their spending on television ads in key states.
“That work expands bigly tomorrow as we will be ALL IN to elect Joe Biden as our next President,” the tweet continued.
Priorities USA— which was founded in 2011 and supported former President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign — had already previously pledged to spend $150 million against Trump.
- Savannah Behrmann
Biden remains favorite among African American voters
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s projected early wins Tuesday in Mississippi and Missouri continued his strong showing against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders among African American voters.
Biden outpolled Sanders on Tuesday with black voters by 87% to 11% in Mississippi, 70% to 22% in Missouri and 66% to 28% in Michigan, according to exit polling data.
Biden, who served eight years with the first black president, Barack Obama, has said he owes his comeback to black voters. After losing the first contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, Biden pinned his hopes on South Carolina, where Biden won big with the Democratic primary electorate 60% black voters.
On Super Tuesday on March 3, Biden swept southern states. He beat Sanders among black voters by 71% to 16% in Virginia, 62% to 17% in North Carolina, 72% to 9% in Alabama and 53% to 20% in Tennessee, according to exit polls.
Age also played a role. Sanders, a Democratic socialist, built his revolutionary campaign on younger voters. The candidates divided voters who are 18 to 29 years old in Mississippi, with Biden supported by 48% and Sanders by 44%. But Sanders beat Biden among younger voters in Missouri by 76% to 19%.
But older voters sided with Biden. Biden also beat Sanders among voters at least 65 years old, by 89% to 9% in Mississippi and by 77% to 17% in Missouri.
- Bart Jansen
Joe Biden is projected to win Mississippi and Missouri
Former Vice President Joe Biden is the projected winner of the Mississippi and Missouri primaries, based on AP's analysis of voter surveys.
Biden and Sanders each campaigned in Missouri, which has 68 pledged delegates. Biden held rallies Saturday in St. Louis, where he said that “we’re going to unite this party and unite this country,” and Kansas City. Sanders rallied supporters in St. Louis on Monday, telling them they provided the enthusiasm to defeat President Donald Trump.
But Biden’s win in Missouri was expected because an average of polls through Monday showed him ahead with nearly 52% support, compared to 31% for Sanders, according to a summary by FiveThirtyEight.com.
Biden was looking to extend his winning streak among states with large African American populations, promoting his endorsements Monday from former primary rivals: Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
Biden found the strongest support in the St. Louis area and in mid-Missouri, while Sanders found backing in the northern and southern parts of the state. Among the Democrats on the state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver endorsed Biden and Rep. Lacy Clay endorsed Harris before she dropped out and hadn’t announced a new selection by Monday.
Biden’s win in Mississippi was expected because he led an average of polls through Monday with nearly 67% support, compared to 22% for Sanders, according to a summary by FiveThirtyEight.com.
Sanders was scheduled to visit Jackson on Friday, but decided instead to focus on Michigan.
Biden spoke at a Jackson church on Sunday and then hosted a rally at Tougaloo College with actress Vivica A. Fox and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
– Bart Jansen
First polls have closed in three states
Voting has ended in the first three of the six “Junior Tuesday” contests that could go far in determining whether Bernie Sanders can blunt the momentum Joe Biden rode during the Super Tuesday primaries a week ago.
Voters participating in primaries in Mississippi and Missouri and caucuses in North Dakota had until 8 p.m. ET to cast ballots. Most polls in Michigan close at 8 p.m. ET, except four counties that close at 9 ET, followed by Idaho and Washington, both at 11 p.m. ET.
Biden is leading with 670 delegates to 574 for Sanders. To win the nomination, a candidate must amass 1,991 delegates. Michigan is the biggest prize with 125 delegates, followed by Washington (89), Missouri (68), Mississippi (36), North Dakota (14), and Idaho (13).
Another 13 delegates are available Tuesday from ballots cast by Democrats living abroad.
– Ledyard King
DNC and CNN announce no live audience for Sunday’s debate amid coronavirus fears
The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday night that there will be no live audience at Sunday’s debate taking place in Arizona.
“At the request of both campaigns and out of an abundance of caution” amid coronavirus fears.
CNN, the network co-hosting the debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, said their “top priority is the safety of our employees and community members. This extends to guests planning to attend or cover our debate on March 15.”
The network also said that there will not be a press filing center or spin room for reporters covering the campaigns.
More: Coronavirus updates: Suburban New York community to enact 'containment' area
As of Monday afternoon, Arizona's count of new-coronavirus cases was presumed to be six, but more tests were pending, according to the Arizona Republic.
To date, 56 Arizonans have been tested for infection and 44 have had negative results. Six cases of the disease, also known as COVID-19, were either confirmed or presumed positive, and six were pending, meaning there could be more cases announced soon.
Sunday’s debate will be the first time Biden and Sanders are set to appear on stage after Biden’s strong Super Tuesday showing in which Biden took a double-digit delegate lead over Sanders for the party's presidential nomination.
Worldwide, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 113,000 people and left 4,000 dead. In the United States, nearly 1,000 people have tested positive, and around 30 people have died.
–Savannah Behrmann
Coronavirus prompts new polling places to protect elderly
Voting-rights officials said the coronavirus outbreak has had a cascading effect on the primary season, with election officials in states such as Ohio and Illinois that vote March 17 beginning to shift polling places away from senior-citizen homes.
Ohio officials at 88 boards of elections worked to relocate polling sites at residential senior facilities, according to Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. For example, Franklin County will have 16 different polling places, she said.
“Those 11th-hour polling changes impact over 21,000 voters,” Clarke said on a call organized by Election Protection, a coalition of voting-rights groups that monitor election problems. “Those are all voters who need to be fully notified about the polling site changes to assure that their right to vote is not compromised next Tuesday.”
The changes raise concerns about potentially discouraging senior citizens from voting if they have trouble finding or traveling to new polling places.
“These 11th-hour polling site changes are also happening in Illinois, where they are moving out of senior citizen centers and finding new locations,” Clarke said.
Health officials have warned that the elderly are more at risk of complications from coronavirus. The leading Democratic candidates – former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders – each canceled campaign rallies in Cleveland because of concerns about coronavirus. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued call for more poll workers. And in Florida, election officials in Palm Beach County reported an uptick in mail-in ballots and a dip in poll workers. Officials are working to stock polling places with cleaning supplies, she said.
“All of these changes illustrate the impact that the coronavirus is having on this election season and underscores the need for states to strengthen their level of preparedness,” Clarke said. “Between last week and today’s primary election, we’ve observed a cascading effect that the coronavirus has had on this electoral season.”
--Bart Jansen
Pro-business group tries to stoke resentment among Sanders’ supporters
The Club for Growth is a pro-business lobby dedicated to “defeating big-government politicians and replacing them with pro-growth, limited government conservatives.”
And yet the group’s political arm announced Tuesday it was releasing a digital ad sympathetic to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist Democrat whose advocacy for Medicare-for-all, the Green New Deal and a steep wealth tax has put him at odds with corporate America.
The ad, titled “Remember,” lays out what it calls the “Democratic Establishment’s war on the presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders.” The 30-second spot paints Sanders as the victim of a campaign by Democratic Party leaders who will “do anything to stop Bernie,” a refrain many of the senator’s supporters often repeat.
“Now the billionaires are propping up Joe Biden … because they own him,” the ad goes on to say. “Don’t let them steal it. And if they do — remember in November.”
The ad will be seen on digital platforms in four key states holding primaries March 17: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio.
The ad comes as Biden is leading Sanders in what has become a two-person contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. Most analysts say – and polls generally confirm – that Biden has a better chance than Sanders of defeating President Donald Trump.
- Ledyard King
Long lines in Michigan
Voting-rights advocates reported few systemic problems Tuesday, but long lines were seen at college campuses in Michigan where same-day registration is available.
“Michigan has some extremely long and frankly completely unacceptable lines including on two of our major flagship universities,” said Sharon Dolente, voting rights strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union in Michigan.
Lines of one to two hours were reported at the University of Michigan, Michigan State and at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, she said.
The state changed its rules to make it easier to vote, including allowing registration until polls close at 8 p.m. Dolente said election officials failed to anticipate how many students would turn up and the capacity wasn’t available to process them quickly.
“That’s unacceptable, in my opinion,” Dolente said during a call organized by Election Protection, a coalition of voting-rights groups that monitors problems on election day.
Her group is attempting to deputize poll workers, to get voters processed. She worried at 6:30 p.m. Eastern that lines might grow longer before the polls close.
“I assume that that line is going to keep growing because right up until 8 p.m. voters are showing up at polling locations,” Dolente said.
--Bart Jansen
Voters in Missouri, Michigan, and Mississippi see Biden as more electable, AP VoteCast polling says
As voters head to the polls for today's primaries, voters in Michigan, Missouri, and Mississippi saw former Vice President Joe Biden as more electable than Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, according to VoteCast polling by the Associated Press.
About 80% of Democratic primary voters in Michigan and Missouri thought Biden could beat Trump, and about 90% in Mississippi thought he could win, whereas about two-thirds of voters in all three states saw Sanders as able to beat Trump. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won Mississippi and Missouri in 2016, though Sanders won Michigan then.
It also appeared that fewer progressive Democrats turned out in all three states. Majorities of voters in all three states described themselves as "moderate" or "conservative." Seventy-two percent of Mississippi Democratic voters described themselves that way, 61% of Missouri Democratic voters described themselves the same way, as did 62% of Michigan Democratic voters.
Voters in Michigan and Missouri also expressed hesitancy about fundamental political change. A majority, or 53% of Democratic voters, in Missouri said they wanted the political system to be restored to how it was before Trump, as opposed to wanting to "fundamentally change" the system. Close to half, or 49% of Michigan Democratic voters, wanted a restoration to a pre-Trump system, and 49% wanted a fundamental change. In Missouri, 45% wanted a restoration of how the system was before Trump, and 52% wanted a fundamental change.
AP's VoteCast polling is conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for seven days leading up to the primary, including as polls closed.
- Nicholas Wu
Biden, Sanders both cancel events due to coronavirus concerns
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders both have canceled campaign rallies in Cleveland, Ohio, Tuesday night, citing public health and safety concerns.
Three cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Ohio in Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is located. As of March 10, there are 15 people being tested for possible exposure of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
“We are heeding the public warnings from Ohio state officials, who have communicated concern about holding large, indoor events during the coronavirus outbreak,” the Sanders campaign said in a statement. “Sen. Sanders would like to express his regret to the thousands of Ohioans who had planned to attend the event tonight.”
Sanders’ event was going to be at Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. The campaign also said all future “events will be evaluated on a case by case basis.”
Biden campaign manager Kate Bedingfield tweeted a statement around the same time as Sanders' statement.
"In accordance with guidance from public officials and out of an abundance of caution, our rally in Cleveland, Ohio tonight is cancelled. We will continue to consult with public health officials and public health guidance and make announcements about future events," the tweet read.
-- Rebecca Morin
All eyes are on Michigan as six states head to the polls
WASHINGTON – Welcome to Super Tuesday, Part 2.
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders are separated by fewer than 100 delegates as six states – Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington – head out to vote Tuesday.
Biden currently leads with 664 delegates while Sanders is in striking distance at 573. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii also remains in the Democratic primary, but has only amassed two delegates in the first 19 contests.
On the heels of last week's Super Tuesday, where Biden surpassed Sanders in the delegate race, both candidates have their eyes on Michigan.
Live results: Follow live results from the March 10 primaries
More: How coronavirus could affect the six states slated to hold Democratic elections Tuesday
Michigan has 125 delegates up for grabs – the most of the day. And in 2016, Sanders had a surprising victory in the state over Hillary Clinton, who had been leading in polling.
But Biden got good news Monday with a Detroit Free Press poll showing him in the lead at 51% support and Sanders at 27%.
Washington, which has the second most delegates (89) being awarded Tuesday, could also be close, with Biden and Sanders neck and neck in recent polling. Sanders overwhelmingly won Washington in 2016, and he has won all of the Western states that have held contests so far this year.
Polls show good news for Biden in every state voting Tuesday
Polls released this week are good news for Former Vice President Joe Biden, who aims to expand his delegate lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday, when six states hold Democratic primaries.
Out of 18 polls on those six races that have been released since Sunday, none found Sanders ahead in any of the contests (though some found him within the margin of error).
Michigan, Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi, Washington and North Dakota are voting Tuesday. But the big prize is Michigan, which has the most delegates of all the states holding primaries Tuesday with 125. Sanders won the Michigan primary in the 2016 presidential race. But since Sunday, Biden has led Sanders in all of the eight Michigan polls released.
– Rebecca Morin
KC mayor says he was turned away from voting location
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said he was unable to vote because he wasn't "in the system" at his voting station.
"I made a video this morning about the importance of voting and then got turned away because I wasn’t in the system even though I’ve voted there for 11 years, including for myself four times!" tweeted Lucas. "Go figure, but that’s okay. We’ll be back later today!"
The post featured a video of the mayor encouraging the state's residents to get out and vote on a ballot that includes the Democratic presidential primary.
Several people told the mayor, who is African-American, that he should not be OK with being turned away. "It's not okay, Mr. Mayor. A lot of people wouldn't be able to come back later. It's systemic and it's intentional," wrote one Twitter user in response to Lucas' tweet.
I made a video this morning about the importance of voting and then got turned away because I wasn’t in the system even though I’ve voted there for 11 years, including for myself four times! Go figure, but that’s okay. We’ll be back later today! #Vote #KCMO pic.twitter.com/3mYNrO6jmC — Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) March 10, 2020
Lucas addressed their concerns in a later tweet, explaining he was "being Midwestern and passive."
"It’s really not okay," tweeted Lucas, who said he would further investigate what happened.
"If the mayor can get turned away, think about everyone else.," he said. "We gotta do better."
Lucas tried to vote at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, where he told The Kansas City Star he has cast his ballots since 2009. According to the Star, a poll worker searched Lucas’ name using a utility bill but he didn't come up in the system.
Lauri Ealom, the Democratic director of the Kansas City Board of Elections, told the Star that the election worker had put the mayor's first and last name in the wrong fields.
Ealom said things were otherwise running smoothly at that voting location and that the mayor had so far been the only voter to be turned away.
– William Cummings


usatoday--2020-03-10--Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders spar over long records on trade, entitlements, guns and Iraq as primaries

WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Joe Biden and progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders are sparring in the Democratic primaries over how to steer the party to unseat President Donald Trump .
Each candidate said he would support the other as nominee .
But as they battle for the nomination from state to state , their long public records reveal wide-ranging disputes on economics – trade , bankruptcy or entitlements – and security , such as gun control or the war with Iraq .
The Michigan primary Tuesday will shine a spotlight on the federal federal bailout for the automobile industry .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ issues could linger to the nominating convention in Milwaukee in July .
Sanders describes his campaign as unprecedented for taking on the country 's corporate establishment `` that is working frantically to try to defeat us , '' including Wall Street , insurance companies and the fossil-fuel industry .
“ The American people have got to understand that this is a conflict about ideas , about a record , about a vision for where we go forward , ” Sanders told reporters Wednesday .
“ I look forward to a serious debate on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But Biden described himself as a pragmatic leader who got things done in the Senate and as vice president .
Biden said he would be more likely than Sanders , as a Democratic socialist , to help his party regain control of the Senate by winning swing states .
“ It 's not about a revolution , ” Biden said Feb. 26 at a CNN town hall .
“ It 's about results.
” Here 's a look at several key issues where the candidates differ : The success of the auto-industry bailout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often .
It began under Republican President George W. Bush and expanded under Democratic President Barack Obama .
But the role of the auto bailout within a much larger package of aid to the banking industry led to a clash between Biden and Sanders .
The auto bailout helped General Motors and Chrysler weather the Great Recession – and the companies repaid the federal government for the help .
By the end of 2018 , $ 63 billion was repaid , the government received $ 8.4 billion in income and about $ 16.6 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to a Congressional Research Service report .
“ I was proud to serve as President Obama ’ s vice president for eight years , and what we were able to accomplish , passing Obamacare to the work we did to rescue the auto industry and the nation ’ s economy , ” Biden told reporters Wednesday .
Michigan Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer and former Gov .
Jennifer Granholm each endorsed Biden , saying he was the official who championed the auto industry and the millions of Midwest jobs that depend on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to forget , ” Granholm told CNN .
“ We were on our knees and Joe Biden picked us up and carried us on his shoulders.
” But Sanders voted against a broader bailout of $ 700 billion for banks and other financial institutions , which eventually included the auto assistance program .
Sanders argued that Wall Street financial institutions caused the financial crisis and shouldn ’ t be rewarded for their greed .
Biden voted for the bailout .
Sanders said of the larger bailout package that he had “ strong reservations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protections written into law . ''
He also objected `` to using middle-class taxpayer money to bail out the exact same financial institutions whose greed and recklessness led to the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
” His arguments against the larger bailout didn ’ t prevent Sanders from beating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Michigan in 2016 .
“ We are going in there with the full expectation and the hope that we will win it , '' Sanders said .
`` Michigan is obviously an enormously important state , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Congress overhauled bankruptcy law in 2005 after years of debate .
The legislation basically made it more difficult for borrowers to walk away from their credit-card bills and other debts .
The bill a made if harder to file under Chapter 7 to wipe out debts and instead steered people into Chapter 13 , which requires some repayment .
Biden – who as a senator represented Delaware , the home to several credit card companies – supported the bill .
He argued it would help all borrowers with lower interest rates because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senate and House each voted to approve it by 3-1 margins .
“ Unnecessary and abusive bankruptcy costs everyone , ” Biden said in March 2001 during debate on an earlier bankruptcy bill .
“ This costs every single solitary consumer.
” But Sanders opposed the bill in the House .
Another Democratic candidate who dropped out , Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren , was the first to criticize Biden over bankruptcy issues , accusing him of being on the side of credit card companies .
“ At a time when half of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ struggling to make ends make , Joe is going to have to explain to the American people why he voted for a disastrous bankruptcy bill , which benefited the credit card companies , ” Sanders said Wednesday .
Gun-control legislation divided the candidates for decades .
But Sanders has grown closer to Biden ’ s positions in recent years , as mass shootings continue to dominate the news .
Biden , a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee , promoted his support of 1993 legislation that required a five-day waiting period to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weapons ban , which lasted 10 years .
But Biden noted that Sanders voted against the 1993 measure named for James Brady , the White House spokesman who was shot during the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan .
Sanders also supported a 2005 law in the House , which Biden opposed in the Senate , to protect gun manufacturers and sellers from lawsuits if there was no reason to believe a weapon would be used in a crime .
“ I 'm the only guy that has ever passed an assault weapons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guy that ever limited the amount of bullets can be in a clip , ” Biden said at a CNN town hall in February .
“ And I 'm the only person who has taken on the NRA and beat them across the board.
” One of the country 's largest gun control advocacy groups , Everytown for Gun Safety , endorsed Biden for president .
Both candidates were asked about gun control during in separate appearances in Charleston , S.C. , where a white supremacist gunman killed nine black people in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has changed and that he is proud of his D-minus rating from the National Rifle Association .
He supported a 2004 proposal to extend the assault-weapons ban , which didn ’ t succeed .
He co-sponsored legislation to reverse the protection for manufacturers from lawsuits .
He said people with violent records , including domestic violence , shouldn ’ t own guns .
And he supports universal background checks for gun buyers .
`` The world has changed , and my views have changed , ” Sanders said at an ABC News debate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unlike Trump , unlike the Republican leadership , I will not allow the NRA to call the tune on this issue , ” Sanders told the CNN town hall .
The 2002 vote to authorize war in Iraq is one of the most straightforward disputes between Biden and Sanders .
Congress approved the authorization overwhelmingly as part of the aftermath of the terrorist attacks Sept. 11 , 2001 .
But flaws in the intelligence that justified the Iraq invasion have colored public opinion since then .
And because of its flexibility , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iraq , Somalia and other countries .
In the days after 9/11 , Biden and Sanders each supported military action in Afghanistan , which had offered safe haven to terror mastermind Osama bin Laden .
But the vote a year later to attack Iraq sharply divided the Democrats .
In a House floor speech , Sanders opposed giving the Bush administration what he called a blank check to invade Iraq because of uncertainties about how many deaths were likely and how much it would cost .
Sanders also voiced concern that unilaterally attacking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their enemies .
`` The question is whether he represents an imminent threat to the American people and whether a unilateral invasion of Iraq will do more harm than good , ” said Sanders , who called Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a tyrant and a murderer .
Biden explained at the time that the authorization wasn ’ t to prevent an imminent threat against the U.S .
He described military action as an enforcement mechanism against Hussein for violating a cease-fire agreement by banishing international inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ power was the elimination of his weapons of mass destruction , and the permission to have inspectors in to make sure he had eliminated them .
He expelled those inspectors , ” “ This will not be a preemptive strike , if we go with the rest of the world , '' Biden said .
`` It will be an enforcement strike.
” “ Joe is going to have to explain to the American people – who are so tired of endless wars which have cost us too many lives , destabilized too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cost us trillions of dollars – why he was a leader in getting us involved in the war in Iraq , ” Sanders said Wednesday .
Biden acknowledged during a CNN debate in January that it was a mistake to grant the Bush administration the authority .
Biden , whose son served in Iraq , said he is reluctant to use military force and he helped end the Iraq war in 2011 as vice president .
But he said he was as prepared as any candidate to become commander in chief .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the overwhelming vital interests of the United States are at stake , ” Biden said .
“ They were not at stake in Iraq .
And it was a mistaken vote.
” One of President Donald Trump ’ s first priorities was to negotiate a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement from 25 years ago .
Republican President George H.W .
Bush negotiated NAFTA and Democratic President Bill Clinton pushed it through Congress .
While trade among the countries tripled since the agreement was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ costing U.S. jobs and depressing wages , according to a Congressional Research Service report .
Another contentious trade deal in 2000 granted China the same trade advantages as other countries , under what is called Permanent Normal Trade Relations .
China is now the largest U.S. trading partner for merchandise and the biggest source of imports .
But trade tensions remain between the countries .
Trump initiated tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum in 2018 , and then expanded them to cover billions in other goods , as China retaliated .
Biden supported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ The Midwest in general has been very hard hit by disastrous trade agreements , ” Sanders said Wednesday .
“ Joe is going to have to explain to the people and the union workers in the Midwest why he supported disastrous trade agreements like NAFTA and PNTR with China , which have cost this country millions of good paying jobs and resulted in a race to the bottom.
” Biden told the Associated Press as he began campaigning in May 2019 that NAFTA made sense at the time .
“ Fair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Not free trade .
Fair trade .
And I think that back in the time during the Clinton administration , it made sense at the moment.
” Biden told Bloomberg News in January that he would work with democratic allies to “ set the rules of the road and push back on China ’ s aggressive and predatory behavior , instead of alienating and insulting our friends.
” He will also push back on China ’ s human rights record while also cooperating with China on issues like climate change and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confidence in the American people and our ability to compete – and win –against anyone , including China , ” he said .
The Supreme Court approved gay marriage in 2015 .
That ruling came after a 2013 decision that found the Defense of Marriage Act , which had rejected same-sex marriage , violated the Constitution .
But the recognition of gay marriage came years after Congress voted overwhelmingly in 1996 for federal agencies to recognize that `` the word 'marriage ' means only a legal union between one man and one woman.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senate , where it was approved 85-14 .
Sanders opposed the bill in the House , where it was approved 342-67 .
Sanders said it is relatively easy now to be a champion of gay rights , but not when the Defense of Marriage Act was approved .
Sanders said he joined the minority to say that “ people have a right to love each other regardless of their gender.
” He said Biden would have to explain his earlier position .
Despite his earlier vote , Biden endorsed gay marriage during a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Meet the Press , ” ahead of Obama .
When the Supreme Court announced the marriage ruling in June 2015 , Biden issued a statement from the White House that he and his wife couldn ’ t have been prouder .
“ Over the years – in their homes , on our staff , on the frontlines of war , and in houses of worship – Jill and I have befriended countless gay , lesbian , bisexual , and transgender Americans who share a love for their partners constrained only by social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ But today , their love is set free with the right to marry and the recognition of that marriage throughout the country.
” Biden and Sanders have sparred over entitlement funding because of the former vice president ’ s past efforts to curb federal deficits .
Sanders has argued against ever cutting Social Security .
`` We 're not going to cut Social Security , we 're not going to raise the retirement age , we 're not going to fudge around with the cost of living adjustments , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden for discussing cuts to entitlements in the past .
“ How does that happen ? ''
Biden asked reporters Wednesday .
`` Why would a Democrat talk about cutting Social Security , Medicare , Medicaid and veterans programs ?
” Entitlements are perennial targets for spending cuts because their funding routinely fails to keep pace with their cost .
A Government Accountability Office report in January that Social Security is projected to deplete its balance by 2034 .
But fixing the programs is difficult because it requires either raising taxes or cutting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Options for Social Security include raising the retirement age or reducing the eligibility for higher-income Americans , or raising contributions taken out of paychecks .
For example , in 1983 Congress voted to increase the retirement age for Social Security gradually from 65 to 67 .
Biden supported the legislation .
Sanders was not yet in Congress .
As part of the 1984 debate on the deficit , Biden co-sponsored legislation for a one-year freeze on cost-of-living adjustments that was rejected .
In 1995 , he supported a balanced budget amendment to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lead to cuts in Social Security or other federal programs .
“ When I argued that we should freeze federal spending , I meant Social Security as well .
I meant Medicare and Medicaid .
I meant veterans benefits .
I meant every single solitary thing in the government , ” Biden said on the Senate floor in 1995 .
“ And I not only tried it once , I tried it twice , I tried it a third time , and I tried it a fourth time .
Somebody has to tell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do this hard work without dealing with any of those sacred cows , some deserving more protection than others.
” Biden has campaigned this year on providing secure income for the middle class to grow their savings while “ protecting and strengthening Social Security.
” To bolster the program , he proposed extending the 6.2 % tax on salaries to income above the current cap of $ 137,700 .
And he proposed improving benefits , to ensure that anyone who worked at least 30 years would receive income of 125 % of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ benefits about 20 % for surviving spouses who don ’ t have their own work history .
Biden began advertising about his support for Social Security over the weekend in Michigan , Missouri , Illinois , Ohio and Florida , according to the tracking firm Advertising Analytics .
“ Joe Biden has always been a strong supporter of Social Security , ” the narrator in the ad said .
“ Biden will increase Social Security benefits and protect it for generations to come.
” Dealing with health insurance is an even thornier problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of changing a major industry accounting for about one-sixth of the economy .
Sanders proposed Medicare for All , essentially creating a new national health insurance program for everyone .
He argued this would provide health insurance for 80 million people who either don ’ t have any or whose coverage is inadequate .
“ Joe and I have a very different opinion regarding health care , '' Sanders said Wednesday .
`` Joe essentially wants to maintain what I consider to be a dysfunctional and cruel health care system in which we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on health care as are the people of any other country . ''
His proposal was widely criticized for its cost estimated at $ 30 trillion over a decade .
But Sanders said the necessary taxes would be less than middle-class people now pay in insurance premiums and other out-of-pocket expenses .
The program would also save the cost of administering private insurance .
“ At the end of the day , the overwhelming majority of people will save money on their health care bills , '' Sanders said at an October debate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is appropriate to acknowledge that taxes will go up .
They 're going to go up significantly for the wealthy.
” His proposal also raised concerns among people who fear losing their private insurance .
The Culinary Workers Union , which represents 60,000 hotel and casino workers in Nevada and provides health insurance for more than 130,000 people , distributed a flier before that state ’ s primary saying Sanders would “ End Culinary Healthcare ” with his Medicare for All plan .
Biden criticized Sanders ’ plan for being unrealistically expensive .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , for an estimated $ 750 billion over a decade , covered by reversing part of Trump ’ s tax cuts .
But Biden ’ s proposal was also criticized for allowing people to choose government coverage called a public option similar to employer-sponsored insurance plans .
Experts said a public option could prompt employers to stop offering coverage and could drive private plans out of the market .
Biden would also increase Obamacare subsidies for people who do n't get insurance through their employers .
to buy insurance .
Seema Verma , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services , said Medicare for All and Biden ’ s public option would each threaten the private insurance system .
“ These proposals are the largest threats to the American healthcare system , ” Verma said in a July speech .
“ Whatever you call it – Medicare for All , single-payer , or something else – what we are talking about is a complete government takeover , stripping 180 million Americans of their private health insurance and forcing them into a system where Congress and bureaucrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders spar over long records on trade, entitlements, guns and Iraq as primaries push on
Show Caption Hide Caption Difference between caucus and primary, explained The 2020 election is nearing and with that, comes the caucuses and primary elections. But what’s the difference? Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Joe Biden and progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders are sparring in the Democratic primaries over how to steer the party to unseat President Donald Trump.
Each candidate said he would support the other as nominee. But as they battle for the nomination from state to state, their long public records reveal wide-ranging disputes on economics – trade, bankruptcy or entitlements – and security, such as gun control or the war with Iraq.
The Michigan primary Tuesday will shine a spotlight on the federal federal bailout for the automobile industry. But disputes over health care and other issues could linger to the nominating convention in Milwaukee in July.
Sanders describes his campaign as unprecedented for taking on the country's corporate establishment "that is working frantically to try to defeat us," including Wall Street, insurance companies and the fossil-fuel industry.
“The American people have got to understand that this is a conflict about ideas, about a record, about a vision for where we go forward,” Sanders told reporters Wednesday. “I look forward to a serious debate on the serious issues facing this country.”
But Biden described himself as a pragmatic leader who got things done in the Senate and as vice president. Biden said he would be more likely than Sanders, as a Democratic socialist, to help his party regain control of the Senate by winning swing states.
“It's not about a revolution,” Biden said Feb. 26 at a CNN town hall. “It's about results.”
Here's a look at several key issues where the candidates differ:
Federal bailouts
The success of the auto-industry bailout a decade ago is something Biden promotes often. It began under Republican President George W. Bush and expanded under Democratic President Barack Obama.
But the role of the auto bailout within a much larger package of aid to the banking industry led to a clash between Biden and Sanders.
The auto bailout helped General Motors and Chrysler weather the Great Recession – and the companies repaid the federal government for the help. By the end of 2018, $63 billion was repaid, the government received $8.4 billion in income and about $16.6 billion was written off as a loss, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
“I was proud to serve as President Obama’s vice president for eight years, and what we were able to accomplish, passing Obamacare to the work we did to rescue the auto industry and the nation’s economy,” Biden told reporters Wednesday.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Gov. Jennifer Granholm each endorsed Biden, saying he was the official who championed the auto industry and the millions of Midwest jobs that depend on it.
“Michigan is not going to forget,” Granholm told CNN. “We were on our knees and Joe Biden picked us up and carried us on his shoulders.”
Sanders supported the initial $14 billion auto bailout in a December 2008 vote.
But Sanders voted against a broader bailout of $700 billion for banks and other financial institutions, which eventually included the auto assistance program. Sanders argued that Wall Street financial institutions caused the financial crisis and shouldn’t be rewarded for their greed. Biden voted for the bailout.
Sanders said of the larger bailout package that he had “strong reservations about continuing this bailout without strong taxpayer protections written into law." He also objected "to using middle-class taxpayer money to bail out the exact same financial institutions whose greed and recklessness led to the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression.”
His arguments against the larger bailout didn’t prevent Sanders from beating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Michigan in 2016.
“We are going in there with the full expectation and the hope that we will win it," Sanders said. "Michigan is obviously an enormously important state, a state I feel very comfortable in."
Bankruptcy law
Congress overhauled bankruptcy law in 2005 after years of debate. The legislation basically made it more difficult for borrowers to walk away from their credit-card bills and other debts. The bill a made if harder to file under Chapter 7 to wipe out debts and instead steered people into Chapter 13, which requires some repayment.
Biden – who as a senator represented Delaware, the home to several credit card companies – supported the bill. He argued it would help all borrowers with lower interest rates because lenders would suffer fewer defaults. The Senate and House each voted to approve it by 3-1 margins.
“Unnecessary and abusive bankruptcy costs everyone,” Biden said in March 2001 during debate on an earlier bankruptcy bill. “This costs every single solitary consumer.”
But Sanders opposed the bill in the House. Another Democratic candidate who dropped out, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, was the first to criticize Biden over bankruptcy issues, accusing him of being on the side of credit card companies.
“At a time when half of our people are living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to make ends make, Joe is going to have to explain to the American people why he voted for a disastrous bankruptcy bill, which benefited the credit card companies,” Sanders said Wednesday.
Guns
Gun-control legislation divided the candidates for decades. But Sanders has grown closer to Biden’s positions in recent years, as mass shootings continue to dominate the news.
Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promoted his support of 1993 legislation that required a five-day waiting period to buy a gun and a 1994 assault weapons ban, which lasted 10 years.
But Biden noted that Sanders voted against the 1993 measure named for James Brady, the White House spokesman who was shot during the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Sanders also supported a 2005 law in the House, which Biden opposed in the Senate, to protect gun manufacturers and sellers from lawsuits if there was no reason to believe a weapon would be used in a crime.
“I'm the only guy that has ever passed an assault weapons ban nationally. I'm the only guy that ever limited the amount of bullets can be in a clip,” Biden said at a CNN town hall in February. “And I'm the only person who has taken on the NRA and beat them across the board.”
One of the country's largest gun control advocacy groups, Everytown for Gun Safety, endorsed Biden for president.
Both candidates were asked about gun control during in separate appearances in Charleston, S.C., where a white supremacist gunman killed nine black people in a church in 2015.
Sanders said he has changed and that he is proud of his D-minus rating from the National Rifle Association. He supported a 2004 proposal to extend the assault-weapons ban, which didn’t succeed. He co-sponsored legislation to reverse the protection for manufacturers from lawsuits. He said people with violent records, including domestic violence, shouldn’t own guns. And he supports universal background checks for gun buyers.
"The world has changed, and my views have changed,” Sanders said at an ABC News debate in February.
“As president, unlike Trump, unlike the Republican leadership, I will not allow the NRA to call the tune on this issue,” Sanders told the CNN town hall.
Iraq War
The 2002 vote to authorize war in Iraq is one of the most straightforward disputes between Biden and Sanders. Congress approved the authorization overwhelmingly as part of the aftermath of the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001.
But flaws in the intelligence that justified the Iraq invasion have colored public opinion since then. And because of its flexibility, the authorization allows troops to fight terrorists in Iraq, Somalia and other countries.
In the days after 9/11, Biden and Sanders each supported military action in Afghanistan, which had offered safe haven to terror mastermind Osama bin Laden. But the vote a year later to attack Iraq sharply divided the Democrats.
In a House floor speech, Sanders opposed giving the Bush administration what he called a blank check to invade Iraq because of uncertainties about how many deaths were likely and how much it would cost. Sanders also voiced concern that unilaterally attacking Iraq could spur other countries to attack their enemies.
"The question is whether he represents an imminent threat to the American people and whether a unilateral invasion of Iraq will do more harm than good,” said Sanders, who called Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a tyrant and a murderer.
Biden explained at the time that the authorization wasn’t to prevent an imminent threat against the U.S. He described military action as an enforcement mechanism against Hussein for violating a cease-fire agreement by banishing international inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction.
“The condition for his continuing in power was the elimination of his weapons of mass destruction, and the permission to have inspectors in to make sure he had eliminated them. He expelled those inspectors,”
“This will not be a preemptive strike, if we go with the rest of the world," Biden said. "It will be an enforcement strike.”
The dispute lingers.
“Joe is going to have to explain to the American people – who are so tired of endless wars which have cost us too many lives, destabilized too many regions around the world, have cost us trillions of dollars – why he was a leader in getting us involved in the war in Iraq,” Sanders said Wednesday.
Biden acknowledged during a CNN debate in January that it was a mistake to grant the Bush administration the authority. Biden, whose son served in Iraq, said he is reluctant to use military force and he helped end the Iraq war in 2011 as vice president. But he said he was as prepared as any candidate to become commander in chief.
“We should not send anyone anywhere unless the overwhelming vital interests of the United States are at stake,” Biden said. “They were not at stake in Iraq. And it was a mistaken vote.”
Trade
One of President Donald Trump’s first priorities was to negotiate a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement from 25 years ago. Republican President George H.W. Bush negotiated NAFTA and Democratic President Bill Clinton pushed it through Congress.
While trade among the countries tripled since the agreement was adopted, NAFTA was broadly criticized for costing U.S. jobs and depressing wages, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
Another contentious trade deal in 2000 granted China the same trade advantages as other countries, under what is called Permanent Normal Trade Relations. China is now the largest U.S. trading partner for merchandise and the biggest source of imports.
But trade tensions remain between the countries. Trump initiated tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum in 2018, and then expanded them to cover billions in other goods, as China retaliated.
Biden supported both trade agreements and Sanders opposed both.
“The Midwest in general has been very hard hit by disastrous trade agreements,” Sanders said Wednesday. “Joe is going to have to explain to the people and the union workers in the Midwest why he supported disastrous trade agreements like NAFTA and PNTR with China, which have cost this country millions of good paying jobs and resulted in a race to the bottom.”
Biden told the Associated Press as he began campaigning in May 2019 that NAFTA made sense at the time.
“Fair trade is important,” Biden said. “Not free trade. Fair trade. And I think that back in the time during the Clinton administration, it made sense at the moment.”
Biden told Bloomberg News in January that he would work with democratic allies to “set the rules of the road and push back on China’s aggressive and predatory behavior, instead of alienating and insulting our friends.” He will also push back on China’s human rights record while also cooperating with China on issues like climate change and nuclear nonproliferation.
“I have total confidence in the American people and our ability to compete – and win –against anyone, including China,” he said.
Gay marriage
The Supreme Court approved gay marriage in 2015. That ruling came after a 2013 decision that found the Defense of Marriage Act, which had rejected same-sex marriage, violated the Constitution.
But the recognition of gay marriage came years after Congress voted overwhelmingly in 1996 for federal agencies to recognize that "the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman.”
Biden supported the measure in the Senate, where it was approved 85-14. Sanders opposed the bill in the House, where it was approved 342-67.
Sanders said it is relatively easy now to be a champion of gay rights, but not when the Defense of Marriage Act was approved. Sanders said he joined the minority to say that “people have a right to love each other regardless of their gender.” He said Biden would have to explain his earlier position.
Despite his earlier vote, Biden endorsed gay marriage during a May 2012 interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” ahead of Obama.
When the Supreme Court announced the marriage ruling in June 2015, Biden issued a statement from the White House that he and his wife couldn’t have been prouder.
“Over the years – in their homes, on our staff, on the frontlines of war, and in houses of worship – Jill and I have befriended countless gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans who share a love for their partners constrained only by social stigma and discriminatory laws,” Biden said. “But today, their love is set free with the right to marry and the recognition of that marriage throughout the country.”
Social Security
Biden and Sanders have sparred over entitlement funding because of the former vice president’s past efforts to curb federal deficits. Sanders has argued against ever cutting Social Security.
"We're not going to cut Social Security, we're not going to raise the retirement age, we're not going to fudge around with the cost of living adjustments," Sanders told reporters Friday.
He criticized Biden for discussing cuts to entitlements in the past.
“How does that happen?" Biden asked reporters Wednesday. "Why would a Democrat talk about cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans programs?”
Entitlements are perennial targets for spending cuts because their funding routinely fails to keep pace with their cost. A Government Accountability Office report in January that Social Security is projected to deplete its balance by 2034.
But fixing the programs is difficult because it requires either raising taxes or cutting benefits to tens of millions of people. Options for Social Security include raising the retirement age or reducing the eligibility for higher-income Americans, or raising contributions taken out of paychecks.
For example, in 1983 Congress voted to increase the retirement age for Social Security gradually from 65 to 67. Biden supported the legislation. Sanders was not yet in Congress.
As part of the 1984 debate on the deficit, Biden co-sponsored legislation for a one-year freeze on cost-of-living adjustments that was rejected. In 1995, he supported a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, which he acknowledged could lead to cuts in Social Security or other federal programs.
“When I argued that we should freeze federal spending, I meant Social Security as well. I meant Medicare and Medicaid. I meant veterans benefits. I meant every single solitary thing in the government,” Biden said on the Senate floor in 1995. “And I not only tried it once, I tried it twice, I tried it a third time, and I tried it a fourth time. Somebody has to tell me in here how we are going to do this hard work without dealing with any of those sacred cows, some deserving more protection than others.”
Biden has campaigned this year on providing secure income for the middle class to grow their savings while “protecting and strengthening Social Security.” To bolster the program, he proposed extending the 6.2% tax on salaries to income above the current cap of $137,700.
And he proposed improving benefits, to ensure that anyone who worked at least 30 years would receive income of 125% of the poverty level. He would raise benefits about 20% for surviving spouses who don’t have their own work history.
Biden began advertising about his support for Social Security over the weekend in Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and Florida, according to the tracking firm Advertising Analytics.
“Joe Biden has always been a strong supporter of Social Security,” the narrator in the ad said. “Biden will increase Social Security benefits and protect it for generations to come.”
Medicare
Dealing with health insurance is an even thornier problem because of the costs and the complexity of changing a major industry accounting for about one-sixth of the economy.
Sanders proposed Medicare for All, essentially creating a new national health insurance program for everyone. He argued this would provide health insurance for 80 million people who either don’t have any or whose coverage is inadequate.
“Joe and I have a very different opinion regarding health care," Sanders said Wednesday. "Joe essentially wants to maintain what I consider to be a dysfunctional and cruel health care system in which we are spending twice as much per person on health care as are the people of any other country."
His proposal was widely criticized for its cost estimated at $30 trillion over a decade. But Sanders said the necessary taxes would be less than middle-class people now pay in insurance premiums and other out-of-pocket expenses. The program would also save the cost of administering private insurance.
“At the end of the day, the overwhelming majority of people will save money on their health care bills," Sanders said at an October debate. "But I do think it is appropriate to acknowledge that taxes will go up. They're going to go up significantly for the wealthy.”
His proposal also raised concerns among people who fear losing their private insurance. The Culinary Workers Union, which represents 60,000 hotel and casino workers in Nevada and provides health insurance for more than 130,000 people, distributed a flier before that state’s primary saying Sanders would “End Culinary Healthcare” with his Medicare for All plan.
Biden criticized Sanders’ plan for being unrealistically expensive. Biden proposed to strengthen and expand Obamacare, for an estimated $750 billion over a decade, covered by reversing part of Trump’s tax cuts.
But Biden’s proposal was also criticized for allowing people to choose government coverage called a public option similar to employer-sponsored insurance plans. Experts said a public option could prompt employers to stop offering coverage and could drive private plans out of the market.
Biden would also increase Obamacare subsidies for people who don't get insurance through their employers. to buy insurance.
Seema Verma, the Trump administration’s administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Medicare for All and Biden’s public option would each threaten the private insurance system.
“These proposals are the largest threats to the American healthcare system,” Verma said in a July speech. “Whatever you call it – Medicare for All, single-payer, or something else – what we are talking about is a complete government takeover, stripping 180 million Americans of their private health insurance and forcing them into a system where Congress and bureaucrats make decisions about their care.”