Sanders vows full support to Clinton election Nicole Gaudiano
Rivals make nice in show of combined opposition to Trump
“I intend to do everything I can to make certain she will be the next president.”
Bernie Sanders
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. They spent more than a year trading barbs over policy and judgment. But Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders put that behind them Tuesday, standing side-by-side in a high school gym as Sanders endorsed his former rival and told a cheering crowd that Clinton would “make an outstanding president.”
“She will be the Democratic nominee for president, and I intend to do everything I can to make certain she will be the next president of the United States,” he said.
Clinton said her general election race against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump will be more enjoyable now that she and the Vermont senator are on the same side. She urged Sanders’ supporters to join her campaign and make it their own.
“We are stronger together,” she said.
Sanders’ decision to endorse Clinton effectively ended his own long-shot primary campaign, which defied expectations and tested the notion that Clinton’s claim to the Democratic nomination was inevitable.
No additional joint campaign events have been finalized, and
it’s unclear what Sanders’ role might be.
After his endorsement of Clinton, Sanders emailed his supporters, asking them to sign a pledge to “continue the political revolution.”
Rather than asking them directly to back Clinton, he instead urged them to stand with him against Trump and help elect liberal candidates.
In the coming weeks, Sanders wrote, he will announce the creation of successor organizations that will carry on the fight represented by his presidential campaign.
“Our goal will be to advance the progressive agenda that we believe in and to elect like-minded candidates at the federal, state and local levels who are committed to accomplishing our goals,” he wrote.
Though he has known Clinton for 25 years, Sanders has downplayed their friendship, telling NPR last year, “I’m not gonna tell you we are bosom buddies.” Tuesday in New Hampshire, as Clinton stood behind him, nodding her head, he said “it is no secret” that the two disagree on a number of issues.
But he said there was a “significant coming together” on the party’s platform, which he described as “by far the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party.”
Sanders told the crowd the next job is to see that platform implemented by a Democratic House and Senate and a Clinton White House. “And I am planning to be in every corner of this country to make certain that happens,” he said.
Clinton noted that the two campaigns worked together on proposals she announced this past week. One would expand access to health care, and the other would eliminate college tuition for working families.
She called for action on Sanders’ priorities, including raising the minimum wage, combating climate change, regulating Wall Street and changing the campaign-finance system. She reiterated her opposition to the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Over the years, she said, she’s gotten to know Sanders as a colleague and friend. “His reputation for passionate advocacy hasn’t always made him the most popular person in Washington,” she said. “But you know what? That’s generally a sign you’re doing something right.”
Clinton told Sanders supporters they will “always have a seat at the table” when she’s in the White House and asked them to sign up for her campaign.
“We accept $27 donations, too, you know,” she said, a reference to Sanders’ oft-quoted campaign contribution average.
The line drew cheers, but the crowd at Tuesday’s event included Sanders supporters — many holding his campaign signs — who showed unwillingness to accept Clinton as their nominee.
Trump tweeted that he was “somewhat surprised that Bernie Sanders was not true to himself and his supporters. They are not happy that he is selling out!”