Sanders details kickoff, ignites endorsement battle

Bernie Sanders, Vermont's independent senator and 2016 presidential candidate, will hold his formal campaign kickoff Tuesday evening along Lake Champlain in Burlington, the city where he once was mayor.

The Sanders campaign revealed details of the event for the first time Wednesday — the same day that Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, took to Twitter to endorse Sanders' rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton.

There were other endorsements Wednesday, too: Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. co-founder Jerry Greenfield backed Sanders, while Vermont House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, joined the Clinton camp.

For Sanders, details of the kickoff are:

• WHEN: 5 p.m. Tuesday.

• WHERE: Waterfront Park, Burlington.

• RAIN LOCATION: Memorial Auditorium, Burlington.

"My hometown of Burlington and the people of Vermont have a special place in my heart. There is nowhere else in the world where I would hold an event this important," Sanders said in a statement.

"In Vermont, I have learned that focusing on important issues and not engaging in negative campaigns is what people want. I have learned that grassroots campaigning — holding town meetings, knocking on doors, face-to-face discussions — is more important than money in winning elections. That is what I have done in Vermont and that is the lesson I will take with me around the country on this national campaign.

"The formal kickoff will set the stage for the campaign to come," Sanders continued. "I will lay out an 'Agenda for America' which addresses the major crises we face and a vision of a government which works for all of our people and not just the billionaire class."

After the event, Sanders plans to travel to early presidential-voting states, New Hampshire on Wednesday and Iowa on Thursday.

Shumlin, meanwhile, fired up his dormant campaign Twitter account, @petershumlin, and posted a pro-Hillary message."

"Proud to endorse @HillaryClinton — a lifelong champion for everyday Americans," the governor tweeted, in a message to which he signed his name. The governor's spokesman, Scott Coriell, verified the tweet came from Shumlin.

Wednesday's tweet was the first time Shumlin had used the campaign account since Election Day, Nov. 4. Typically the governor and his staff tweet from @GovPeterShumlin.

In an email to the Burlington Free Press, Coriell expanded on the endorsement.

"The Governor has tremendous respect for Senator Sanders and thinks his voice will focus this campaign on the issues that really matter to Vermonters and Americans," the spokesman wrote. "Hillary Clinton has been fighting her whole life for everyday Americans and the Governor believes she is the right person to lead America as the next president of the United States."

A spokesman for Sanders, Michael Briggs, found a bright side to Shumlin's opinion.

"It's a free country. The governor is entitled to endorse whoever he wants. What this means is more free Ben and Jerry's ice cream for the rest of us at the kickoff," Briggs said.

In Washington, Jerry Greenfield, the ice-cream icon, told the Free Press he's securely in Sanders' corner, calling himself a "huge supporter."

"If I have the opportunity, I would like to go scoop Ben & Jerry's ice cream at Bernie's kickoff event," Greenfield said. "I love Bernie's take on the issues about inequality in this country, about the incredible discrepancy between wealth and poor, and that we're just not taking care of people."

Smith, the House speaker, told the Free Press that Clinton would "make a very good president."

"Sen. Sanders, though, will help in the Democratic primary," Smith said. "The conversation that he brings to the table is going to be a very good one. I was a Hillary person in 2008, and it's hard for me to get off that bandwagon."

Vermont's other senator, Democrat Patrick Leahy, has indicated he also plans to back Clinton in the primary. Former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin has said "my heart and my head are focused on Hillary."

Rep. Peter Welch, also a Democrat, is declining to weigh in for now, said Bob Rogan, chief of staff.

"Congressman Welch has not yet endorsed a candidate," Rogan told the Free Press. "Like all Vermonters, he wishes Senator Sanders well on the campaign trail."

When Sanders announced late last month that he planned to run for president, his campaign said the kickoff event would take place at City Hall. The announcement Wednesday with details of next week's event made no mention of why the venue was changed.

Contributing: Paris Achen, April Burbank and Nicole Gaudiano, Free Press. Contact Adam Silverman at 802-660-1854 or asilverman@freepressmedia.com. Follow Adam on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wej12.