The campaign for Bernie Sanders laid off staff one day after crippling losses in 4 of the 5 Northeast primaries on April 26. She is 232 delegates short of the 2,383 needed to win the Democratic party’s nomination at the party’s convention, to be held in Philadelphia in July.
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Given the overwhelmingly negative headlines Sanders is drawing after his dismal performance on Tuesday and the fact that he’s essentially been mathematically eliminated from the Democrats’ nomination barring a tidal wave of superdelegates changing sides, that headline probably doesn’t seem all that surprising. Those include raising the minimum wage to $15, establishing Medicare for all and ending fracking in the U.S.
“We will continue to have a strong and dedicated staff of more than 300 workers who are going to help us win in California and other contests still to come”, said Michael Briggs, the Sanders’ campaign communications director. “We’ve got to fight for every one of those states”, Sanders said. The campaign plans to have 60 or 70 staffers on the ground in California when that state votes on June 7.
Even so, Sanders’ speech Wednesday at Purdue University in West Lafayette signaled an acknowledgment that his campaign’s way forward might be influencing the next presidency rather than winning it.
The news squares with reports yesterday that the Sanders’ campaign would “reassess” his candidacy should he lose big in the primary, which included Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, the only state Sanders won. “Every day we’re getting attacked and our record is being distorted”, he said. It was at a rally in Portland, Oregon, on March 25 that a small bird appeared and landed on the podium where Sanders was speaking – causing an online sensation.
On the stump, Sanders said Wednesday that he is in it to win the nomination.
Sanders has raised an enormous amount of funds in the campaign, with over $100M raised in 2016’s first quarter.
Weaver emphasized that the campaign is fully staffed in the field in the states that have yet to vote.
In a town hall on MSNBC on Monday night, Clinton questioned the idea that she needs to adopt parts of Sanders’ platform to win over his supporters, saying that she did not make demands when she lost the primary to President Barack Obama eight years ago.
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The presidential hopeful has also pointed to Sanders as a candidate that has been treated unfairly by the Democratic Party.
