Sen. Bernie Sanders says he is concerned about Democratic voter turnout in midterms

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders appeared on CNN’s State of the Union this week, where he discussed his concern that Democrats may not see the voter turnout they need in order to maintain control of the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm election.

“I am worried about the level of voter turnout among young people and working people who will be voting Democratic,” Sanders said to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday.

The Independent senator also discussed the disparity between economic messaging between the two parties.

“I think what [Democrats] have got to do is contrast what a strong pro-worker Democratic position is with the corporate agenda of the Republicans,” Sanders said.

Sanders explained his view that Democrats should be pressing Republicans on their failure to act upon any of the issues the GOP tends to consistently bring up.

“What are the Republicans’ response to inflation? What do they want to do?” Sanders asked. “Well, maybe they want to cut wages for workers. Do they want to raise the minimum wage? No, they don’t.”

He added, “So I think it’s important to take the attack to the Republicans. What do they want to do other than complain?”

When it comes to the issues he believes voters care most about, Sanders pointed to violent crime in the US. “Crime is a real issue. Violence is a real issue,” he said. “So we have got to focus in a smart way not in a way that that foments fear.”

Sanders suggests beginning by “making investment in our young people, in good education, in good job training, and making sure that we have good law enforcement doing the right job all over this country.”

Early voting has begun in many states already, and some states are seeing record early voting turnout already. In Georgia, 838,000 voters had already cast their ballots by Monday, just a week after early voting began in the state. The turnout numbers are expected to break records.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office confirmed on Monday that numbers at this point are 60 percent higher than they were in the 2018 midterms at the same time.