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Bernie Sanders Endorses Joe Biden For Democratic Presidential Nomination

Screenshot from Sanders' announcement endorsing Joe Biden on Facebook Live
Sanders 2020/Facebook
Screenshot from Sanders' announcement endorsing Joe Biden on Facebook Live

Vermont Independent Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders endorsed former vice president Joe Biden for the presidential nomination on Monday. The question now for Democrats eager to defeat President Trump is whether Sanders’ supporters will follow his lead.

Senator Sanders and Joe Biden appeared together on a Facebook Live split-screen Monday as Sanders, who ended his presidential campaign last week, endorsed the former vice president’s bid for the White House.  “I am asking all Americans, I'm asking every Democrat, I'm asking every Independent I'm asking a lot of Republicans to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse, to make certain that we defeat somebody who I believe is the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country.”

Middlebury College professor emeritus Eric Davis noted that when results of the Wisconsin primary came out Biden continued to lead with a 2 to 1 margin over Senator Sanders.  Davis believes that Sanders’ priority is defeating President Trump and concluded that uniting behind and urging his supporters to vote for Biden is now his priority.   “The question is: Will Bernie Sanders’ supporters get out there and vote for Joe Biden in the fall and tell their friends, colleagues, political associates, etcetera to do the same? And that's going to require some mobilization work on part of Sanders and Sanders’ campaign and particularly among the younger voters with whom Sanders was strong in the primaries. He needs to make the case to them that four more years of Donald Trump is far worse than areas where Sanders and Biden disagree.”

While Sanders ran as a Democrat for president, in the Senate he is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.  If Biden is elected, Sanders’ move could influence his future status in the upper chamber.  “I think one of the biggest things for Bernie Sanders may also be, not just the hopes that Joe Biden is elected president, but that the Democrats get a majority in the Senate. Because if that's the case then he would probably be a committee chairman. He might end up as chair of the budget committee where he's the senior member. And he'd have a lot more influence if the Democrats had a majority in the Senate. Now, you know, again  if he can urge his supporters to get out there and vote for Democratic Senate candidates in states with close Senate races that could make a big difference for his future going forward as well as Joe Biden’s and the country.”

Biden got another boost on Tuesday former President Barack Obama endorsed him. He also praised Bernie Sanders.  “Bernie's an American original. A man who has devoted his life to giving voice to working people's hopes, dreams and frustrations. He and I haven't always agreed on everything but we've always shared a conviction that we have to make America a fairer, more just, more equitable society. We both know that nothing is more powerful than millions of voices calling for change. And the ideas he's championed, the energy and enthusiasm he inspired, especially in young people will be critical in moving America in a direction of progress and hope.”

Obama's endorsement of Biden:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-s3ANu4eMs

Sanders' endorsement of Biden:

https://www.facebook.com/berniesanders/videos/603709746895359/

 

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