Bernie Sanders is Unbought and Unbossed

By Alan Grayson

Tuesday, March 01, 2016 at 11:28 AM

Alan Grayson: Last summer, my 16-year-old daughter asked me whether I felt the Bern. "Did you leave the stove on again?" I asked her. Now, after listening to We, the People, I feel the Bern. I hereby endorse Bernie Sanders to be our Democratic nominee for President of the United States. I will vote for him as a superdelegate at the Democratic National Convention. And I enthusiastically join, shoulder to shoulder, his political revolution.

Perhaps inspired by the Bernie Sanders message of "Not me. Us," for the past several days, I have appealed to Democrats across the nation to tell me for whom I should vote, as a superdelegate at the Democratic National Convention. The response has been absolutely overwhelming. Almost 400,000 Democrats voted at GraysonPrimary.com. More than the number who voted in the South Carolina primary. More than the number who voted in the New Hampshire primary and the Nevada caucus combined.

The results: Sanders 86 percent, Clinton 14 percent. More than just a landslide. An earthquake.

We invited not just votes, but also comments. I have been fascinated by the reasons you all gave for your votes. We'll be sharing some of those, in coming days. But in Bernie's case, it boils down to this:

America needs a revolution. And only Bernie Sanders, as President of the United States, can make one.

For those of you who read these missives (and if you don't, then welcome!) this endorsement may not be entirely unexpected. You know that:

I have passed 54 amendments on the Floor of the House in the last three years, more than any other Member. And when Bernie Sanders served in the House, in his time Bernie was the "Amendment King," getting so many good things done in a hopelessly waterlogged institution, again and again.

I am the only Member of the U.S. House of Representatives who raised most of his campaign funds from small contributions of less than $200 (in both 2012 and 2014, by the way). Bernie Sanders is the only Member of the U.S. Senate who raised most of his campaign funds from small contributions of less than $200. And this year, Bernie Sanders is the only Presidential candidate who has raised most of his campaign funds from small contributions of less than $200. Bernie and I are not owned and beholden to the billionaires and the multinational corporations and the lobbyists and the special interests.

Bernie Sanders is unbought and unbossed. So am I. That is an essential element of the political revolution.

Bernie Sanders and I share a goal of building a grassroots movement of people who want to take back our country from the billionaires and the multinational corporations. We want to make elections into about something different: Not the lesser of two evils, but the greater good.

But Bernie and I cannot accomplish this on our own. We need your help. We need to declare our Declaration of Independence from the baneful power of Big Money, by coming together one and all.

This is the revolution you've been waiting for. The place is here, and the time is now.

Power ... to the People.

Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida is a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.