DEFIANT SANDERS WON’T BACK DOWN
DEMOCRATIC HOPEFUL BANKING ON FBI PROBE TO SPARK CLINTON’S DOWNFALL
Bernie Sanders is refusing to withdraw from the Democratic race despite Hillary Clinton seizing her place in the U.S. history books to become the first woman poised to lead a major political party’s presidential ticket.
“Barriers can come down. Justice and equality can win. This campaign is about making sure there are no ceilings, no limits on any of us. This is our moment to come together,” said Clinton after taking four out of six states available in the final Super Tuesday of the race — including the big prize of California.
But the joyous atmosphere was tempered when Sanders delivered a defiant address in which he hardly mentioned Clinton who was jeered by his supporters.
With many expecting the Vermont senator to drop out of the race, he instead pledged to fight on through the party’s national convention next month in Philadelphia.
“We are going to fight hard to win the primary in Washington, D.C.,” he said, referring to the lone remaining contest. “And then, we take our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.”
But many of his allies now believe things have gone far enough and Thursday the senator travels to Washington to meet with President Barack Obama and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Obama is expected to endorse Clinton as soon as Thursday but it remains unclear whether he can convince Sanders to drop out.
With Clinton desperately attempting to mend ties with Sanders’ supporters ahead of her general election showdown with Donald Trump, her Democratic rival has shown little interest in party unity.
His campaign manager went so far as to cite the possibility that the former secretary of state would be indicted for putting top secret information at risk as their best hope of victory. With most Democrats tight-lipped about the FBI investigation into Clinton’s unapproved use of a private email server while running the state department, the Sanders campaign is openly preparing, if not hoping, for her to face charges.
In such a scenario, Sanders would attempt to convince “superdelegates” to change their allegiance at the convention, overriding Clinton’s sizable advantage among the delegates awarded according to primary election results.
But Jeff Merkley, the first fellow senator to endorse Sanders, publicly called on him to leave the race.
“Once a candidate has won a majority of the pledged delegates and a majority of the popular vote, which Secretary Clinton has now done, we have our nominee,” he told The Washington Post.
Dianne Feinstein of California said Sanders needs to get on board quickly or he will be hurting the party’s chances in November. She also dismissed the idea his gambit might give him a bigger say in the party platform.
“By ticking everybody off, I don’t think that’s the way to do it,” she said.
The White House released a statement that said the president “thanked Sen. Sanders for energizing millions of Americans” with his progressive agenda, but also acknowledged that Clinton had “secured the delegates necessary to clinch the Democratic nomination.”
The once-obscure senator from Vermont is also expected to return to the Senate chamber as one of its most visible members, with a broad national following.
He will return with a fundraising machine rivalled only by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chuck Schumer of New York, each of whom have relationships with him and could play roles in unifying the party.
He also would be in line for a gavel next year should Democrats take back the Senate — either the budget committee, which he could use as a forum for his ideas, or potentially the health, education, labour and pensions committee, previously led by liberal lions Ted Kennedy and Tom Harkin and with jurisdiction over many of the issues he has been touting in the campaign.
Sanders has had limited influence on policy in the Senate, despite his decades in Congress, with the notable exception of a bipartisan veterans’ health overhaul in 2014.
Whether he gets a warm embrace or a cold shoulder when he returns to the Senate will depend on how quickly he backs Clinton, said Dick Durbin the Democratic senator from Illinois.
“That’s a critical element for his positive return to the Senate,” he said.
“It’s pretty remarkable what this man has accomplished. I mean, here he is, a backbencher in the Senate, a socialist Democrat who managed to win millions of votes, break all records for presidential candidates in small contributions, bring out rallies of tens of thousands of people. It’s a different Bernie Sanders who will return.”
BY TICKING EVERYBODY OFF, I DON’T THINK THAT’S THE WAY TO DO IT.