Four Democratic Party presidential candidates, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Michael Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren, were represented at the Windsor Democratic Club’s first meeting of 2020, Jan. 30 at Round Table Pizza.
The Biden campaign did not respond to an invitation to send a representative.
Kevin Krenak and Lisa Anderson, both veteran political activists from Sebastopol, spoke for Pete Buttigieg.
Krenak, a Pennsylvania native who first campaigned for Jimmy Carter, said he is impressed by Buttigieg. He’s intelligent and sane. He brings people together.
Anderson likes Buttigieg’s values. Buttigieg “speaks multiple languages, including “progressive, in a way people understand. He stands for Medicare for all who want it and an end to endless wars.”
“We need new blood,” she said. “Buttigieg is the perfect age to be president. He’s looking to the future. I’m voting for Pete the man.”
Linda Carpenter and Windsor resident Maggi Munat spoke for Bernie Sanders. “We’re not associated with the campaign,” she said, “we’re just big fans.”
They stated that Sanders’ immigration policy is “ground-breaking” and “profound,” and that under his Medicare For All program there would be no premiums, no co-pays. College, including trade schools, would be free to all. Sanders supports the Green New Deal, workplace democracy and journalism free of corporate control. His criminal justice reforms are “amazing,” according to Carpenter and Munat.
Sanders will get people who don’t usually get involved to show up, including young people, Latinos, even Republicans. Munat cited her staunch Republican relatives who say they would vote for Sanders.
His programs would be difficult to implement, Munat later acknowledged in response to a question, but “that’s not a reason not to try. Bernie promises systemic change.”
Michael Bloomberg’s representative introduced herself as Cynthia. She’s a New York City native who worked for Clinton in Michigan in 2016, now touring on her motorcycle for Bloomberg as a paid organizer.
“I was Team Elizabeth (Warren) for awhile,” she said. “But I’m from New York; I’ve seen how Mike gets things done. He knows that paying attention to climate change is good business. He took on the NRA. He spent $110M on gun reform in 2018. He knows the importance of data. He has plans including a Wildfire Resilience Plan.”
He doesn’t take money from anyone because he wants to be beholden to no one. “I’m glad we’ve got a billionaire on the Democratic side,” she said. “As an antidote to the Trump machine.”
Chris Rogers spoke for Elizabeth Warren. Rogers, a Santa Rosa native, was elected to the Santa Rosa City Council in 2016. “I’m not a [campaign] official but I’m a big supporter,” he said.
Warren’s policies always resonated with him, including a humane immigration policy, restoring DACA, Medicare for All, addressing climate change, free public higher education for everyone and forgiving student debt, with a 2% wealth tax on assets over $50M.
“No one should be that rich,” Rogers said.
Still, he used to be on the fence. “Blue no matter who . . . and then, the fires happened.”
According to Rogers, after the Tubbs fire Elizabeth Warren reached out to Sonoma County to ask what was needed to be done to recover from the fires and to prevent future disasters and offered concrete legislative assistance. Her willingness to work and listen impressed him.
Shirley Johnston is a member of the Windsor Democratic Club.
