by A. Shaw
US Sen. Bernie  Sanders (I-VT) runs for office as an independent but caucuses with the Democratic Party (DP)  and is counted as a DP member for purposes of committee assignments. He was the only independent member of the congress during most of his service and is the longest-serving independent in U.S. Congressional history.
In an interview with The Nation on March 6, 2014, Sanders stated that he is “prepared to run for President of the United States” in 2016. Bernie didn’t say whether he’ll run as a DP or as an independent.
Why does Bernie even caucus with the DP?
Bernie caucuses with the DP because, in the US Senate, a simple majority – at least – of votes is required to do something. So, Bernie needs at least 50 votes to do something.
About 35% of the DP senators are hard-core bourgeois reactionaries and the remaining 65% are more or less bourgeois liberals.
Bernie caucuses with so-called bourgeois liberals and shuns the reactionaries of the DP.
The DP depends a lot on Bernie’s one vote.