BURLINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders called Wednesday for an “issues-driven” campaign and highlighted differences between himself and former Vice President Joe Biden during a press conference at Sanders’ downtown campaign office.
The comments were the Vermont senator’s first since Super Tuesday, in which Biden scored some upset wins and firmly established himself as the moderate alternative to Sanders. Biden won 10 states, including Texas and Massachusetts, while Sanders won California, Colorado, Utah and Vermont.
Sanders said he believed he and Biden would be close in delegate count after California results are finalized.
“My guess is after California is thrown into the hubbub, it’s going to be pretty close,” he said. “We might be up by a few, Biden might be up by a few. But I think we go forward pretty much neck-and-neck.”
Biden currently has 566 delegates to 501 for Sanders and 61 for Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, according to NPR.
Warren and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg finished well behind Biden and Sanders.
Bloomberg, who announced he was dropping out of the race Wednesday after spending more than $500 million of his own money on the campaign, endorsed Biden.
Sanders said he spoke with Warren Wednesday morning and Warren told him that she was assessing her campaign.
“Elizabeth Warren is a very, very excellent senator, she has run a strong campaign,” Sanders said. “She will make her own decision in her own time.”
Sanders reaffirmed his position that the person who wins the plurality of the delegates should get the Democratic nomination in Milwaukee this summer.
Sanders said that the campaign had not been as successful as he had hoped in getting young people to vote.
“Historically, everybody knows that young people do not vote in the kind of numbers that older people vote in,” he said. “I think that will change in the general election. But I’ll be honest with you, we have not done as well in bringing young people into the process.”
Sanders said he hopes the campaign focuses on the issues moving forward and allows him to highlight the significant differences he and Biden have.
“Joe and I have a very different voting record, Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country, and Joe and I are running very different campaigns,” Sanders said.
Biden’s campaign is “heavily supported by the corporate establishment” and has received campaign contributions from at least 60 billionaires, Sanders said, while his campaign has set the record for highest number of donors.
“Does anyone seriously believe that a president backed by the corporate world is going to bring about the changes in this country that working families, the middle class and lower-income people desperately need?” Sanders said.
Sanders criticized Biden’s support for trade deals, the 2008 bank bailout and the Iraq War. He also said he and Biden disagreed strongly on health care.
“Why would a Democrat talk about cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans’ programs?” Sanders said.
Sanders said he firmly believed that he had the best campaign to beat President Donald Trump in November.
“I believe that the nature of our campaign, which is grassroots, is the campaign to beat Trump,” Sanders said.
