Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders has been making increased use of one of his most powerful surrogates: his wife, Jane Sanders.
The general public is just now becoming acquainted with her because of appearances last week on almost all of the cable news networks. She is impressing people who have the opportunity to hear her. Tad Devine, a Sanders aide knows why.
“She has a tremendous presence speaking on his behalf. She really communicates very effectively for him, she knows him so well,” Devine said.
“She can speak personally to not only the issues that he’s talking about, but the motivation behind those issues. I can’t think of any of us who has more credibility speaking to that, and that’s really important to voters.”
Ms. Sanders, who earned a Ph.D. in leadership studies in politics and education from Union Institute and University, has a long and distinguished career in public service. She has served as a provost and president of a college, in addition to holding a variety of positions-paid and volunteer-in the congressional office of Sen. Sanders.
Ms. Sanders time in the congressional office has given her policy writing experience and her knowledge of the issues coupled with her willingness to discuss them, have endeared her to the press and make her an important ally for Sen. Sanders, who continues to struggle in the delegate count.
Last week, as Sen. Sanders announced a contested convention amidst concern over the role of superdelegates, Ms. Sanders was a vocal proponent of a new approach to the electoral process.
“This race is all about systemic change and that includes the electoral system in terms of how it is set up and carried out. It is also about voter participation. Bernie is bringing millions of people into the process–first time voters and people who had turned away from politics,” said Ms. Sanders.
Because the Sanders campaign has made clear its intention to fight for the nomination all the way to the convention, we will most assuredly be seeing more of Jane Sanders.
Featured image by Gage Skidmore available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
