As of Tuesday, July 12, Bernie Sanders has officially endorsed Hillary Clinton for the 2016 presidential election. By ending his campaign and standing by the presumptive Democratic nominee, the Democratic party is finally uniting against Donald Trump. With the Democratic National Convention coming up later this July and the general election just away a few months away, this is an especially crucial time for the party to rally behind a single candidate.
Sanders and Clinton took the stage side-by-side beneath a “Stronger Together” sign at Portsmouth High School in New Hampshire, where Sanders would ultimately declare his support for the former first lady and secretary of state. This location is important because Sanders beat Clinton by 22 percentage points in New Hampshire’s primary in February, proving that the state is full of Bernie supporters. By choosing to stand behind Clinton now, Sanders hopes to convince people who “Feel the Bern” that supporting Clinton is the only way to defeat Trump this fall.
Sanders announced, “She will be the Democratic nominee for president, and I intend to do everything I can to make certain that she will be the next president of the United States.”
Clinton then told the crowd, “With your help, we’re joining forces to defeat Donald Trump, win in November, and build a future we can all believe in.” She thanked Bernie profusely in her speech for all he has done to fight the injustices in our country and, now, for all the support he is giving to her presidential bid.
Although a source close to Mr. and Mrs. Sanders told The New York Times that the couple was disappointed by the official end to his campaign, especially with all the time and effort that went into it, Sanders’ advisers say he will work hard to convince his followers to support Clinton. Part of this effort is already visible, as Sanders aligns some of his more controversial and extreme views with Clinton’s platform. He explained that their goals are quite similar: create more jobs, raise the minimum wage, expand access to health care, work on climate change issues and help college students escape crippling debt. “[Her campaign] is about the needs of the American people and addressing the very serious crises that we face,” he told his followers at the event, according to BuzzFeed News. “There is no doubt in my mind as we head into November, Hillary Clinton is far and away the best candidate to do that.”
In return, Clinton brought attention to some of Sanders’ policy ideas that she would like to take on, including changing the campaign finance system and working to make public college and university tuition free for families making less than $125,000 per year.
Clinton’s campaign advisers believe that winning over Bernie supporters will be one of her biggest challenges leading up to the general election. In the coming months, Clinton will probably pay special attention to the states where Sanders defeated her in the primaries, including New Hampshire, Wyoming, Vermont and Washington. Pew Research shows that 85 percent of Democrats who once backed Sanders now plan to vote for Clinton. However, supporters from the far left, who backed Sanders for his commitment to a political revolution in the United States, will be much more difficult to convince. Only a small amount of Sanders supporters said they would enthusiastically support Clinton, according to The Times. At the Portsmouth event, many members of the crowd held “Bernie” signs, rather than claiming “I’m With Her.”
Although Sanders has endorsed Clinton, some of his supporters are not buying into it, perhaps because of the arguments Sanders made against Clinton while they competed for the Democratic nomination. Donald Trump doesn’t seem too happy, either, Tweeting out that Bernie joined the political establishment and sold out (likely in a ploy to convince his supporters to not follow suit to Hillary’s camp).
Bernie Sanders, who has lost most of his leverage, has totally sold out to Crooked Hillary Clinton. He will endorse her today – fans angry!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2016