Sanders ends bid for Dem nomination
Presumptive winner Biden to challenge Trump
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his presidential bid Wednesday, making Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge President Donald Trump in a general election campaign that will be waged against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sanders initially exceeded sky-high expectations about his ability to recreate the magic of his 2016 presidential bid, and even overcame a heart attack last October. But he couldn’t convert unwavering support from progressives into a viable path to the nomination, with “electability” fears fueled by questions about whether his democratic socialist ideology would be palatable to general election voters.
“The path toward victory is virtually impossible,” Sanders told supporters Wednesday. “If I believed we had a feasible path to the nomination, I would certainly continue the campaign, but it’s just not there.”
He called Biden a “very decent man” but didn’t offer an explicit endorsement of the former vice president. Sanders said his name would remain on the ballot in states that have not yet held primaries so he can gain more delegates and “exert
significant influence” on the Democratic platform.
Biden, who is backed by much of the party’s establishment, told supporters at a virtual fundraiser that he had a “short conversation“with Sanders.
“He didn’t just run a political campaign. He created a movement,” Biden said. “That’s a good thing for our nation and our future. His campaign has ended, but I know his leadership will continue.”
Trump sought to foment the tension among Democrats by tweeting Wednesday that the party stacked the race against Sanders. The president said the senator’s supporters “should come to the Republican Party.”
Sanders began his latest White House bid facing questions about whether he could win back the supporters who chose him four years ago as an insurgent alternative to Hillary Clinton. Despite winning 22 states in 2016, there were no guarantees he’d be a major presidential contender this cycle.
But Sanders used strong polling and solid fundraising — collected almost entirely from small donations made online — to quiet early doubters.
Like the first time, he attracted widespread support from young voters and made new inroads within the Hispanic community, even as his appeal with African Americans remained weak.
Sanders amassed the most votes in Iowa and New Hampshire, which opened primary voting, and cruised to an easy victory in Nevada.
But Biden won a crucial endorsement from influential South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn and a subsequent, larger-thanexpected victory in South Carolina, which propelled him into Super Tuesday, when he won10 of 14 states.
In a matter of days, Biden’s former Democratic rivals lined up to endorse him. His campaign had appeared on the brink of collapse after New Hampshire but found new life as the rest of the party’s more moderate establishment coalesced around him as an alternative to Sanders.
Things only got worse the following week when Sanders lost Michigan, where he had campaigned hard and upset Clinton in 2016. He was also beaten in Idaho, Mississippi and Missouri the same night, and the results were so decisive that Sanders headed to Vermont without speaking to the media.
The coronavirus outbreak essentially froze the campaign, preventing Sanders from holding the large rallies that had become his trademark and shifting the primary calendar. It became increasingly unclear where he could notch a victory that would help him regain ground against Biden.
Though he will not be the nominee, Sanders was a key architect of many of the social policies that dominated the Democratic primary, including a “Medicare for All” universal, government-funded health care plan, tuition-free public college, a $15 minimum wage and sweeping efforts to fight climate change under the “Green New Deal.”
Sanders began the 2020 race by arguing that he was the most electable Democrat against Trump. He said his working-class appeal could help Democrats win back Rust Belt states that Trump won in 2016, including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Sanders, 78, also faced persistent questions about being the field’s oldest candidate. Those were pushed into the spotlight Oct. 1, when he was at a rally in Las Vegas and asked for a chair to be brought on stage so he could sit down. Suffering from chest pains afterward, he underwent surgery to insert two stents because of a blocked artery, and his campaign revealed two days later that he had suffered a heart attack.
A serious health scare that might have derailed other campaigns seemed only to help Sanders as rising stars on the Democratic left, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, endorsed him.
With Sanders now out of the race, Biden moved to appeal to the leading progressive’s supporters Wednesday.
“I hope you will join us,” Biden, 77, said in a statement. “You are more than welcome. You’re needed.”