[I]t’s official: Bernie Sanders says he’s going to endorse fellow Democratic presidential candidate and presumptive party nominee Hillary Clinton.
Or at least that’s what Vice President Joe Biden says Sanders says.
The second-in-command — who announced White House support for same-sex marriage before President Barack Obama ultimately did — shared the Sanders news in a pre-taped National Public Radio “Weekend Edition” interview for Sunday.
“Oh, I’ve talked to Bernie,” Biden is quoted. “Bernie’s going to endorse her.”
Sanders, who has spent the past month saying anything but, continues to do so.
“I hope that we can reach that goal,” the Vermont presidential candidate responded on MSNBC. “We are not there at this moment.”
Indeed, as confirmed by national press coverage, Sanders is more focused on fighting all the way to the Democratic National Convention July 25-28 in Philadelphia.
“Mr. Sanders, who has not withdrawn from the presidential race, has not really left the Democratic primary battlefield,” the New York Times reports in a story headlined “Bernie Sanders Returns to the Capitol, His Campaign in Tow.” “Apparently defeated but decidedly unbowed, he has brought his campaign to Capitol Hill, most visibly in the large security detail that surrounds him as he moves about (“He is very secure,” noted Senator Tim Scott, Republican of South Carolina).”
The establishment isn’t necessarily embracing this. Consider three recent Washington Post columns.
“Whether it is ego, vanity or simply a political miscalculation, Sanders has over-read his mandate,” political analyst Stuart Rothenberg opines in “How Bernie Sanders Missed His Moment.” “Delaying a full-throated endorsement of Clinton until delegates arrive in Philadelphia won’t make Sanders more influential. It will merely make him look irrelevant and delusional.”
Adds former White House chief of staff William Daley in “Bernie Sanders’s Stubbornness Is A Big Mistake”: “Sanders insists the party adopt ‘the most progressive platform ever passed’ at its Philadelphia convention. Since when does the runner-up get to dictate the platform? (Or, for that matter, continue to enjoy Secret Service protection at taxpayers’ expense?)”
And opinion writer Jonathan Capehart in “Bernie Sanders Has A Lot of Nerve”: “Sanders got 3.7 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton. He has 389 fewer pledged delegates than the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Endorse Clinton already and exit the race.”
Then again, the FBI interviewed Clinton for three hours Saturday, potentially capping its investigation into whether the former secretary of state exposed government secrets by using a private email server.
“Why does all of that matter?” Post reporter Chris Cillizza writes. “Because — as any Bernie Sanders supporter will tell you — Clinton doesn’t have 2,383 pledged delegates: She has 2,220. This means she needs unpledged superdelegates to put her over the top. If there are major doubts about Clinton’s ability to win in November, there could well be a major move of superdelegates away from her. But to whom?”
And so Sanders continues to raise money. (“Can I count on you to make a $2.70 contribution today?” he emailed supporters last week. “Your donation will go directly towards ensuring we can get all of our delegates to Philadelphia for the convention next month.”) He’s also communicating his message in a New York Times op-ed column titled “Democrats Need to Wake Up.”
“In this pivotal moment, the Democratic Party and a new Democratic president need to make clear that we stand with those who are struggling and who have been left behind,” Sanders wrote. “We must create national and global economies that work for all, not just a handful of billionaires.”
That means hammering away until the last policy platform plank is set at this month’s convention.
“So far, Sanders and his team have locked up draft policy wins on language for abolishing the death penalty, expanding Social Security through raising the cap on how much Americans earning $250,000 or more pay to expand benefits, and breaking up the country’s largest banks,” Politico reports. “But that’s not everything on Sanders’ lengthy priority list, so the senator and his allies are vowing to keep pushing hard.”
