Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) is planning a blitz of campaign events to "rally young voters and progressives" to support Democrats before midterm elections, which are widely expected to be a Republican wave, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
Sanders, who is not a Democrat but has run twice for the party's presidential nomination, will begin the campaign blitz next week in Oregon, a traditionally deep-blue state that this year is leaning Republican. He will then attend events in multiple swing states, including Nevada, where Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt is leading Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto, and Pennsylvania, where the most recent poll has Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz tied in the Senate race.
Sanders, a self-described socialist, supports massive tax increases, universal health care, and the Green New Deal. Those far-left positions have some Democrats worrying that Sanders's "campaigning in swing states could backfire," the Times noted.
Wisconsin Senate candidate Mandela Barnes, who is trailing in the polls, is one Democrat who appears hesitant about Sanders's presence. While Sanders "allowed the Barnes campaign to use his name" in fundraising emails, Barnes has not said whether he will appear with Sanders at three events in Wisconsin. A Barnes spokeswoman declined the Times's request for comment.
Sanders is concerned about low turnout and low energy among Democrats, who are "doing rather poorly" at appealing to working-class voters, he told the Times.
"Poll after poll, the American people look more favorably upon the Republicans in terms of economic issues than they do Democrats," Sanders noted.
This is not the first time the socialist senator has criticized the Democratic Party for economic issues. "The middle class in this country is falling further and further behind" under President Joe Biden, Sanders told talk show host Seth Meyers in September.