title:  Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Is What New York Is All About
text: Millions of immigrants came to America through Ellis Island in New York City and were greeted by the Statue of Liberty. They came with hopes for a better life, to a place where big dreams are encouraged because with hard work, and determination, those dreams can come true in New York. These big dreams are emblematic of Bernie Sanders  campaign message. Throughout his political career, he has demonstrated the honesty, integrity and work ethic required to turn ideas into reality. The story of a lower-middle class Jewish Brooklyn kid becoming mayor of a city in Vermont by ten votes after rigorous grassroots organizing, defying the odds stacked against him by getting elected to congress as an Independent, and managing to serve there for over 25 years shows the kind of tenacity that makes New Yorkers stand apart. New York is where the most ambitious and driven go to change the world, and that s what Bernie Sanders  campaign is looking to do, not just continue with the status quo. New Yorkers are people who dared to take a risk or do whatever it takes to see their dreams come true. People still come to New York with the New York State of Mind,  if they can make it here they can make it anywhere. Bernie Sanders  campaign has grown from a point where most Americans had never heard of him to millions of Americans participating in the political process, many for the first time, through working with one another and talking to one another about the issues Bernie Sanders has been addressing. Rather than rely on wealthy corporate donors or the mainstream media to spread the message of the campaign, Bernie Sanders has relied on everyday Americans and their resiliency to keep fighting despite the odds stacked against them by the establishment. Popular consensus thought it was unrealistic to think Bernie Sanders could ever challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, but his campaign has overcome the adversity of those notions and is transforming the country s political landscape.New Yorkers know all about resiliency and coming together in the face of adversity. After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, New York led the way in bringing Americans together, helping to rebuild what was lost, banding together to move forward to a better, safer future. New Yorkers showed the world their resiliency once again in response to Hurricane Sandy, when New Yorkers who still had electricity and water unabated, lent a helping hand to their neighbors.In a world where violence and tragedy are covered daily in mainstream media, New Yorkers have shown the world time and again good prevails against evil. In 2010, New Yorker s stories began to be encapsulated by the Humans of New York project, cataloging the diversity and beauty of New Yorkers for the world to see. It s known as the greatest city in the world because of its history, diversity, and character, which all attest to the greatest achievements of mankind.Many of the nation s historic battles with the labor movement took place in New York. Samuel Gompers, a New York native, was the American Federation of Labor s first president, called New York City,  the cradle of the American Labor Movement.  That labor movement brought America the 40-hour work week, and drastically improved working conditions and labor laws. Today in New York, labor unions maintain more membership and power than any other state in the country. No other presidential candidate has been fighting for workers  rights to the extent Bernie Sanders has.In October 2015, Bernie Sanders was the only candidate who took time off from campaigning to join a picket line with Verizon workers and union members in New York City who were fighting for a fair contract and to have an employee who was fired for leading an organizing campaign reinstated. He is the only presidential candidate who supports a $15 minimum wage, and only his economic policies go far enough to help rebuild the working and middle classes in this country. The average American has not had an increase in pay in 15 years, but things have cost more in the marketplaces. He has been in a recession for 15 years, nothing has changed for him. Up at the top, we re not in a recession, but 80 percent of the Americans have been in a recession for at least 15 years,  said New York native and Godfather of Wall Street, Asher Edelman, in an interview on CNBC Fast Money.Edelman endorsed Bernie Sanders on the show: If you look at something called velocity of money, that means how much gets spent and turns around,  he said.  When you have the top 1 percent getting money, they spend five to ten percent of what they earn, when you have the lower end of the economy they spend 100 or 110 percent of what they earn. As you ve had a transfer of wealth and income to the top, you have a shrinking consumer base basically and a shrinking velocity of money. Bernie is the only person out there who I think is talking at all about both fiscal stimulation and banking rules that will get the banks to generate lending again as opposed to speculation, so from an economic point its straight forward. Bernie Sanders campaign is what New York is all about. New York is dubbed the  Empire State  not because of its millionaires, billionaires, and corporations, but because its wealth lies in its diversity, character, ambition, and resources which are all quintessentially American.Bernie Sanders  popularity has manifested in the form of record attendances at his campaign rallies and an overtaking of the internet by his supporters because his campaign has that same addictive energy as New York. The people are what are driving Bernie Sanders campaign, and the people are what make New York so great. Hard working Americans have been devoting both contributions and their free time to the campaign because the ideology behind Bernie Sanders  campaign is a future Americans can believe in, and millions of Americans are willing to put in the work to achieve it.Featured image via Flickr