US Sen. Sanders to kick off 2016 bid from Clinton's left

Bernie Sanders, the self-described "democratic socialist" senator from Vermont, aims to jumpstart his challenge to Hillary Rodham Clinton in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination with a kickoff event today.
The 73-year-old Sanders is trying to ignite a grassroots fire among left-leaning Democrats wary of Clinton, a group that pined for months for Sen. Elizabeth Warren to get in to race.
While Warren remains committed to the Senate, repeatedly saying she won't run for the White House, Sanders is laying out an agenda in step with the party's progressive wing and Warren's platform: reining in Wall Street banks, tackling student debt and creating a government-financed infrastructure jobs program.

"I know what I believe," Sanders said in a fundraising email hours before his launch that pushed back against "the billionaire class" trying to buy the election. "That's why today marks the beginning of our political revolution" to address core economic issues, massive student debt and the role of big money in politics.
Clinton is in a commanding position by any measure, far in front of both Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is widely expected to get into the race later this week.
Yet Sanders' supporters in neighboring New Hampshire say his local ties and longstanding practice of holding town hall meetings and people-to-people campaigning will serve him well in the key northeastern state that holds the first presidential primary contest every four years.

Sanders, an independent in the Senate who caucuses with the Democrats, has raised more than $4 million since announcing in late April that he would seek the party's nomination. He suggested in the interview that raising $50 million for the primaries was a possibility. "That would be a goal," he said.

Whether Sanders can tap into the party's left wing and influence Clinton's policy agenda remains unclear. But he has been at the forefront of liberal causes as Clinton has seemed to be tacking to the left.
Clinton regularly refers to how the U.S. Economy hurts American workers, rhetoric that offers comparisons to Warren's frequent description of the economic system being "rigged" against middle-class families.

Sanders joined with Warren to drive opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade proposal backed by President Barack Obama, arguing it would ship jobs overseas. Clinton has avoided taking a specific position on the trade deal.
Sanders also has introduced legislation to make tuition free at public colleges and universities, a major piece of Warren's agenda. Clinton's campaign has signaled that she intends to make debt-free college a major piece of her campaign.