Beaten by a country mile June 7 in the California primary and three other states, 74-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has trouble saying goodbye to the millions of supporters that backed his long-shot campaign. With 571 superdelegates before Democratic primary voters cast their first votes in Iowa Feb. 1, Hillary had already won the Democratic nomination. Bernie’s chances were slim-and-none, often complaining about a “rigged” campaign system, something echoed by 69-year-old real estate mogul and GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump. Losing California June 7 by whopping 13.6%, Hillary put Bernie away, despite his barnstorming the state for weeks. California’s voters said, to paraphrase Bernie, “enough-was-enough” about keeping the campaign going. On June 6, the Associate Press and other news outlets declared Hillary the winner of the Democratic nomination.
Hillary amassed the magic number of 2,383 delegates, the first woman to win a major party nomination. Bernie’s campaign objected to the AP’s June 6 announcement, crying foul one day before the last Super Tuesday primaries. Anyone who can add-and-subtract could figure out Hillary had sewn up the nomination. Bernie’s reluctance to concede to Hillary June 7 showed his sour grapes, after losing the nomination. Vowing to soldier on until the June 14 D.C. primary with only 20 delegates at stake, Bernie showed a stubbornness to face reality: He lost. Meeting with Bernie today at the White House President Barack Obama urged the 74-year-old to work toward party unity. Shortly after meeting Bernie, Obama endorsed Hillary for president, planning to campaign hard for her election. Obama touted Hillary, who he beat in 2008, as the Democratic Party’s most qualified candidate.
Enjoying an aggregate 49.2 approval rating, Hillary hopes to ride Obama’s coattails to the White House. “I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office,” Obama said, endorsing Hillary today. “She’s got the courage, the compassion and the heart to get the job done,” saying nothing about her judgment. Whether Hillary likes it or not, she’s stuck with Obama’s economy and foreign policy, both vulnerable heading into November. While it’s easy to bash Trump for lacking the “temperament” for president, it’s more difficult to run on a record of foreign policy mistakes. Hillary calls her backing the Oct. 11, 2003 Iraq War Resolution, giving former President George W. Bush the green light for the Iraq War, a mistake. But she also backed the Oct. 14, 2011 toppling of U.S. ally Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Egypt’s faced a terrorist insurgency ever since.
Under Hillary’s watch as Secretary of State, she backed toppling Mubarak, deposing Libya’s strongman Muammar Gaddafi Aug. 24, 2011 and currently backs regime change in Damascus. Hillary’s unconditional backing of the Saudi proxy war in Syria has cost over 250,000 lives, displaced millions more to neighboring countries and now threatens the European Union. Obama says Hillary has the “courage, compassion and heart” but does she have the judgment for commander-in-chief? Obama’s backed Hillary primarily because there’s not real policy differences between the two of them. When you talk of Hillary’s foreign policy as secretary of state, it’s really the president’s policy. Saying she’s “thrilled” to get Obama’s endorsement, Hillary now has to defend his record, especially on the economy, where the nation’s Gross Domestic Products looks stuck at under one percent.
Congratulating Sanders for running “a great campaign,” Obama said Bernie would make the Democratic Party stronger, endorsing Hillary and, before next week’s concession speech, officially ends his campaign. Bernie’s reluctance to end his campaign, much like the headless horseman, hasn’t accepted that the campaign ended June 6, the day Hillary hit the magic number. Still arguing about the infinitesimal possibilities, Bernie’s still in denial that his campaign is over. California and New Jersey voters spoke loudly that they want Bernie to concede. “There’s no question in my mind that Hillary will bring us together and lead us to victory in November,” said Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.), trusting Bernie’s judgment about conceding or fighting on. “I think it’s really important that he stay in the process,” said Nolan, trusting Bernie would concede at the right time.
Obama wasted no time endorsing Hillary after finishing his meeting with Bernie. Obama wants Hillary to hit the ground running when it comes to attacking Trump and paving the way to victory in November. “I want to run scared the whole time,” Obama told Democratic donors last month in Miami, taking nothing for granted going up against Trump. Seeing the urgency of getting onto the Fall race, Obama wants Bernie to concede at the earliest possible time. Obama takes the race with more urgency than Hillary, thinking she’s a shoe in for the presidency. Sen. Jeff Markley (R-Ore.) urged Bernie to end his campaign and get behind Hillary. Whether or not Bernie gets another few delegates next week, it’s not going to give him more clout at the DNC convention. Bernie’s reluctance to concede guarantees that he’s not on Hillary VP shortlist. Dragging the “process” out depletes his political capital.
