JULY 12, 2016
Endorse.
It took a while…a long while…but in Portsmouth, NH on Tuesday morning, Bernie Sanders finally said the word that ended the Democratic primary season as he lent his support to Hillary Clinton’s quest to become President of the United States.
I totally understand why it took so long for Sen. Sanders to come to the inevitable conclusion — if you don’t have enough delegates to win, you use those that you have amassed (and in Sanders’ case they are considerable) as leverage for getting your ideas and proposals into the party platform that will be ratified at the Democratic National Convention that kicks off in Philadelphia in just 13 days.
Some have argued that Sanders lost some leverage by waiting so long to endorse Clinton — he was reportedly booed by fellow Democrats at a Congressional meeting last week — but whatever hard feelings were generated by the tough campaign were momentarily wiped away by the high spirits of the Portsmouth rally.
Prior to Tuesday, Sanders danced around an endorsement, saying that her ideas were good, especially the ones that he first presented and that, in the end, he would vote for her. But that was not the same as saying “endorsement,” which he finally asserted on Tuesday.
Sanders has said that his primary reason for withholding his endorsement was to get more progressive planks into the Democratic Party platform, which will be voted on by the delegates at the party’s convention in two weeks. If that was the case, then Sanders succeeded big time.
Yes, it probably cost Clinton nothing (and probably earned her some good will) to give into the Sanders’ demands on the party platform. Still, the fact that the Platform Committee incorporated so many of Sanders’ strongest proposals into the party document gave his backers some satisfaction and perhaps a reason to turn their support to Clinton in November.
The Sanders proposals incorporated into the platform include:
- A $15 an hour minimum wage
- Expansion of Social Security benefits
- A carbon tax to measure its effect on the environment
- Tougher language against Wall Street
- A reasoned pathway toward future legalization of marijuana
- Opposition to the death penalty
The fact that a few of these proposals (the anti-death penalty provision in particular) run counter to the beliefs of Clinton is a victory in itself. Not that Sanders displayed any kind of animosity toward Clinton in his event today. His endorsement was as full-throated and enthusiastic as the Clinton camp would have wanted, and one which that Clintonistas hope will lure disillusioned Sanders supporters over to their side.
It is interesting, however, that Sanders did not officially suspend his campaign today, despite his endorsement of Clinton, and from all reports he intends on taking his movement to the convention and having his name placed in nomination, yet another delicate dance with which the Clinton folks have to deal.
But it appears that the Democrats, despite a contentious primary campaign, will head into the election as a much more united party than the Republicans, who only have 6 days to get it together before their Cleveland convention starts next Monday. Is your popcorn ready?
