This dreaded day has come sooner than expected: Bernie Sanders has bowed out of the race for the Democratic Presidential nominee to make way for Joe Biden.
I can’t say it’s completely unexpected. Despite neither Joe or Bernie being close to the 1,990 delegate threshold to clinch the nomination (1,217 to 914 at this moment, respectively), we are already past the major state races that are the real deciders. Everything consequential that remains looks like it favors Joe anyway. Bernie’s strength in 2020 and 2016 has been his rallies, but the Coronavirus pandemic we are suffering from has crippled any chance of hosting another one.
The writing’s on the wall, and Bernie is just doing what’s logical at this point. Staying in longer will just give moderates ammo to argue complain that Bernie is being divisive within the party.
I’ve been really worried about Joe as the Democratic nominee. I feared that a centrist candidate would not be able to gin up the level of excitement needed to motivate the less politically interested into going out and voting. The last several state elections have shown me that I’m probably wrong. As I mentioned in a previous political post, Biden has not just been out-winning Bernie, but the voter participation numbers are exceeding those of 2016. That’s good news for the upcoming election; maybe enough Dems will get out to remove Trump from office. However, it’s a sore loss for Progressives. It seems the numbers Bernie got in 2016 are less because the country is moving left, and more because people disliked Hillary Clinton.
About moving left though, we can thank Bernie for all that he has done in this and the last Presidential elections. In 2016, $15 minimum wage was lunacy, today it’s part of the party platform. In 2016, Bernie was mocked by the left for saying climate change was the greatest threat facing America, today it’s part of the party platform. Universal healthcare to varying degrees is part of the party platform. I wonder how much more to the right Biden’s policies would be today if not for Bernie’s influence. On top of that, we can thank Bernie for proving to the country that selling yourself out to the interests of corporations is not necessary to be a politician in this day and age. And thanks to him, we have a new generation of Berniecrats making headway in Congress, with AOC and the Justice Democrats.
This was probably the last time Bernie had a shot at President. Already, he would be the oldest President we’ve ever had. Four years from now: no chance. What a shame to lose this opportunity. Bernie has spent his life decades ahead of the times politically. I’d say it’s too bad that we couldn’t have him be 20 years younger for 20 more years of chances on the backend of his life for nomination, but if that happened, we would have lost the 20 years of progress up to this point that he helped achieve on the front end of his political career and activism, perhaps when it mattered more.
Thanks for everything, Bernie.