Sen. Bernard Sanders’ decision to hold out for more concessions has paid off, with Hillary Clinton tilting further left well after ending his chances of becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
Mr. Sanders is expected to endorse Mrs. Clinton in New Hampshire on Tuesday, but the real work was done over the past few weeks, when Mrs. Clinton in essence endorsed Sanders-style positions on health care and on college costs, moving to make herself more palatable to her erstwhile rival and to his millions of supporters.
Over the weekend, the Democratic Party adopted several positions — on climate change, the federal minimum wage and other issues — that Mr. Sanders advocated throughout his campaign.
The moves by Mrs. Clinton and the party leadership were prerequisites for Mr. Sanders’ endorsement. With Democrats and their presidential nominee now firmly in line with Mr. Sanders on many key issues, liberal leaders say, the progressive movement is able to fully back Mrs. Clinton and work on her behalf.
“What tomorrow’s event is about is making sure that Bernie Sanders’ supporters’ commitment to defeating Donald Trump is directly connected to ensuring Secretary Clinton can become the first woman president,” said Neil Sroka, spokesman for the liberal PAC Democracy for America, which backed Mr. Sanders in the primary race. “Tomorrow is a moment to not only talk about what Bernie Sanders’ campaign has achieved but what Sanders supporters can do to make sure Donald Trump doesn’t win the White House and Secretary Clinton does.”
With his likely endorsement, Mr. Sanders will become the last in a line of prominent progressives who have come out in support of Mrs. Clinton. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat and progressive hero, endorsed the former first lady last month.
On Monday, the political arm of the Congressional Progressive Caucus formally endorsed Mrs. Clinton — and made clear in its statement that Mr. Sanders helped transform his primary rival into a true progressive candidate.
“We believe the Democratic Primary has strengthened Secretary Clinton as a candidate, and we thank Sen. Bernie Sanders for raising critical issues in the course of the campaign,” the PAC said in a statement. “Both Democratic candidates prioritized people, the environment, and a fair economy in the course of their debates and public messages. We all benefit when good candidates compete with each other over how to make the lives of Americans better — which is a far cry from the divisive and ugly Republican contest which revolved around exclusion, insult and division.”
The PAC urged progressive activists across the country to support Mrs. Clinton, who has promised to fight for the liberal positions that Mr. Sanders advocates.
“We are stronger when we have each other’s backs. That’s why we will fight to secure universal health care, raise the minimum wage and protect Americans’ fundamental right to vote — not corporations’ right to buy elections,” the former first lady said. “It’s why we will face up to the reality of systemic racism and fix it together. And it’s why we will say ’no’ to trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership that would hurt American workers and fully enforce our trade laws to protect American jobs.”
In just the past week, Mrs. Clinton announced a debt-free college proposal that mirrored Mr. Sanders’ plan and a health care proposal that would institute a “public option,” another central goal of liberals. Over the weekend, the Democratic Party adopted in its platform Mr. Sanders’ call for a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage, a call for stronger action on climate change and a pathway to the legalization of marijuana — all ideas the senator put forth in his campaign.
Those accomplishments, progressives say, should give Sanders supporters a sense of satisfaction, even though the senator’s White House effort ultimately failed.
“Bernie Sanders helped set up Democrats to win in November by incentivizing Hillary Clinton to keep the volume high on popular, progressive ideas like debt-free college, expanding Social Security benefits instead of cutting them and breaking up too-big-to-fail banks,” said Kait Sweeney, spokeswoman for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “With the Democratic Party on track to ratify the most progressive platform in recent history and Clinton continuing to campaign on progressive ideas, Sanders supporters can feel good that they helped to transform the future of the Democratic Party and America.”
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.