He vowed to fight on for a political revolution but showed signs he would bow to the inevitable and bring his insurgent effort to a close.
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Leading Democrats that Sanders accuses of rigging the nomination process do not want to “feel the Bern” of division more than they are feeling it now.
The White House said Sanders and Obama would meet Thursday, at Sanders’ request, to discuss “how to build on the extraordinary work he has done to engage millions of Democratic voters, and to build on that enthusiasm”.
As first reported Wednesday evening by Reuters, and confirmed by The Boston Globe’s Annie Linskey, the MA senator, who has held back from taking a side during the Democratic presidential primary, plans to endorse Hillary Clinton. “I’m not going to speculate how much before the convention it’ll be completed”.
“I think it’s got to be one of the vehicles for uniting people in a common effort against Donald Trump”, said McKibben.
Exactly what Sanders wants – a prime-time convention speaking slot, influence over the party’s platform, veto power over Clinton’s choice of running mate – remains unclear,
possibly even to him.
He promised to continue his campaign to the last primary contest, in the District of Columbia next Tuesday, but about half of his campaign staff are being laid off, sources said.
“And then we take our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania”, he said, in reference to the Democratic National Convention, where Sanders pins his hope to turn the tide by gaining more superdelegates’ support.
Clinton, the former secretary of state, made history when she became the first woman to be a major political party’s presidential candidate after primary election wins on Tuesday in California and elsewhere secured her victory over Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders.
Most of Washington’s 17 superdelegates this year endorsed Clinton, including U.S. Sens. Now the candidate must chart a new path forward.
Both the Clinton campaign and the Obama White House appear to be proceeding carefully as Sanders plots his next steps. “They got on the phone, as I understand it, and started hounding superdelegates to tell them in an anonymous way who they were voting for”, he said.
Masket said he may be using his still sizable support to sway Clinton’s campaign.
Clinton and Sanders are also expected to connect in the coming days, Clinton’s spokesman said late Tuesday.
One big campaign question is whether the voters who helped elect Obama – young people, minorities and women – can be counted on to show up for someone else.
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“I would say there’s quite a bit of uneasiness in both the Republican and Democratic party”.
