Vice President Biden told NPR last week that he was confident Sanders would endorse Clinton, but at that time Sanders said he wasn’t quite ready. Elizabeth Warren stepped in to unify the party behind its presumptive nominee.
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Democrats are set to meet Friday and Saturday in Orlando to finalize their platform ahead of the party’s convention.
Sanders got in the presidential race more than a year ago more to advance his ideas than to actually win, many felt, and this moment is what that was all building toward. While he has hung back, other party leaders have coalesced around Clinton.
Though Clinton has the support of many older Democratic voters, Sanders was able to capture the interest and fiery spirit of many young liberals. After the opening statements, the meeting paused for several hours, while private conversations continued behind the scenes. Sanders’ campaign has indicated in the past that he wants to be able to influence the party’s platform by moving it to the left, as opposed to what would likely be a more centrist platform under Clinton’s candidacy, without Sanders’ influence.
While three-quarters of Democratic voters believe the party will unite behind Clinton, only 38 percent of Republicans believe the GOP will solidly unite behind Trump – a bad sign for Trump as the Republican National Convention approaches. On Wednesday night on MSNBC, it became even more apparent when the self-avowed democratic socialist gave credence to the anonymous leaks. The Democrat spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the plans.
Warren is reportedly being vetted to potentially be Clinton’s running mate, along with Virginia Sen.
Although Sanders has promised to vote for Clinton in the general election, he has not endorsed her or campaigned on her behalf.
“Under her plan”, Clinton’s campaign website explains, “every student will have the opportunity to graduate from an in-state four-year public college or university without taking on any student debt”.
Back in 2008, after a bruising primary race against then-Senator Barack Obama, Clinton endorsed him and the two campaigned together.
Sanders has so far avoided endorsing Clinton, but appears to be closing in on backing her campaign. As we have discussed in a previous piece, the high number of undecided voters is a bit of a misnomer, but it is still troublesome for many partisans out there who fear that Clinton will be unable to convince Sanders voters to turn out and support her on Election Day.
The party guidelines also have language endorsing steps to break up large Wall Street banks and urging an end to the death penalty.
One important plank Sanders would like added is opposition to having any congressional vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership global trade agreement.
His strategy has instead been to use his remaining leverage to push policy, both on the Clinton campaign and in the drafting process of the party’s platform. After the Orlando meeting, the document will be voted on at the convention in Philadelphia this month.
Political clout is a perishable thing, though, and there are signs that Clinton no longer needs Sanders’ support as much as she once did.
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Sanders supporter Benjamin Jealous, a former NAACP president who serves as a member of the committee, called it ‘a victory for the Bernie Sanders campaign and for working people across the country’.
