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Bernie Sanders Endorsed Hillary Clinton, But Did Not Suspend His Presidential Campaign?

By Dawn Papple
Published on: 16:15 PST, Jul 12, 2016

Bernie Sanders formally endorsed Hillary Clinton Tuesday, announcing that their shared enemy is more critically dangerous than the differences that the two Democrats have. Sanders said, “Secretary Clinton has won the Democratic nomination and I congratulate her for that.”

Sanders and Clinton shared very “little natural chemistry” according to the observations of a CNN reporter, who reported that “their body language was noticeably stiff” and that Sanders repeatedly mentioned Clinton by name, “without acknowledging that she was standing next to him looking on.”

CNN reported that after Sanders’ concession speech, he moved to shake Clinton’s hand, but the former Secretary of State ignored the offering and offered the Vermont senator a hug instead declaring, “I can’t help but say how much more enjoyable this election is going to be when we are on the same side. You know what? We are stronger together!”

Multiple reports indicate that Sanders suspended his campaign. According to The Wall Street Journal, “the Federal Election Commission only considers a campaign ended when its committee settles its debt and transfers leftover funds out of its coffers,” but new reports say that his campaign has not even actually been suspended at all.

Most reports have indicated that the reported lack of a suspension is nothing more than a procedural situation.

A Fox News channel reiterated that Sanders’ campaign will still be active until the Democratic National Convention “for procedural reasons.”

In an unexpected remark, though, a spokesman for Sanders reportedly told Morning Consult that despite Senator Sanders’ endorsement of the former First Lady, his endorsement does not mean that he would suspend his own presidential campaign.

Tuesday night, Twitter was littered with posts suggesting Bernie’s endorsement preceded conference calls Tuesday in which delegates were told to vote for him at the convention.

The Atlantic reported similarly about Sanders’ candidacy.

“According to a campaign spokesman, Sanders remains a presidential candidate and is not dropping out of the race following his endorsement of Clinton.”

Bernie-or-Bust activists, upon hearing the reports that Sanders’ campaign will remain active until the national convention, recalled former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell’s words from an interview last month.

“If I were advising Sen. Sanders,” Rendell said in June. “I would say, you’ve done so fabulously, but there’s one thing left you need to do and that’s make a speech in prime time at the convention. You only do that if you’re not contesting the nomination.”

“If Sanders waits to hold a roll call in Philadelphia on the Wednesday of the convention, the only speaking slots left would likely go to President Obama and the party’s nominee. But if he conceded beforehand, Rendell said, Sanders would be in a position to demand a prime time slot on the stage at the Wells Fargo Center.”

Sanders said Tuesday, “Secretary Clinton goes into the convention with 389 more pledged delegates than we have and a lot more super delegates.”

Berniecrats couldn’t help but notice that Sanders cited the delegate math as shown by The New York Times, which does not reflect recent changes to pledged delegate totals that have not been updated by most mainstream media sources, but have been continually updated as changes are reported by states like California. Clinton, actually, is ahead of Sanders by 357 more pledged delegates, not 389. Some Sanders supporters wonder why he would cite an exact number, knowing that it is not the most accurate figure.

NBC News also reported that while Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, he did not suspend his campaign.

Sanders’ staunchest supporters were less-than-enthusiastic about Sanders’ endorsement at the unity event, which took place less than two weeks ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

According to CNN, at the unity rally, “there were plenty of Sanders loyalists who said they are not sold on Clinton — and might never convert.”

Though Sanders’ campaign appears to have not been actually suspended, and his endorsement was among the less-enthusiastic of her endorsements, Sanders indicated that the issues are far more important to him than his own bid at the presidency.

“It is no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of issues, that is what this campaign has been about,” Sanders said Tuesday, according to NBC. Through negotiations between the two parties in the previous weeks, the party’s platform resembles Sanders’ original platform much more than it resembles Clinton’s original platform. “This is what democracy is about.”

Sanders’ die-hard supporters say there could still be a contested convention, but in order for that to occur, a significant number of Clinton’s superdelegates would have to have a change of heart during the first round of voting, reports indicate.

Other Sanders supporters are resigned that Hillary Clinton will be the nominee, but have vowed to continue to fight against the status quo.

“The political revolution has entered a new era. First we changed the political landscape for the 2016 election,” People for Bernie wrote in a statement. “Now we will get in gear to change politics and society the only way that works: from the bottom up. Bernie’s endorsement of Clinton represents both an end and a beginning. The campaign we have been active in is nearly over, but a new one starts today.”

Sanders did not indicate at the unity rally that he would reinvigorate his presidential campaign on the convention floor, even though some of his delegates have said they intend to try to do just that. Sanders said in a prepared statement that he and other progressive Democrats have a “tremendous amount of work left to do in the Democratic Rules Committee that will be meeting in the coming weeks.”

“We have to enact the kinds of reforms to the Democratic Party and to the electoral process that will provide us the tools to elect progressive candidates, to allow new voices and new energy into the Party, and to break up the excessive power that the economic and political elites in the Party currently have. As with our fights on the platform committee, that will only be possible if we stand together.”

Sanders did warn that he will be actively campaigning throughout the entire election season for candidates who will stand behind the progressive agenda, adding, “I hope to see many of you at events from coast to coast.”

Mary Pat Leonard, a Sanders delegate from Fort Wayne, told a News-Sentinel reporter that the Sanders campaign has planned conference calls with delegates this week. She says she expects to learn more about the campaign’s plans at that time, but other delegates who have already been contacted have suggested that their conference calls indicated that Bernie did not release his delegates after endorsing her.

[Image via YouTube screengrab]

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