BERNIE SANDERS IS ending his second bid for the presidency, the campaign staff was informed on a conference call Wednesday morning, according to campaign sources.
Sanders’s departure from the race comes a day after the state of Wisconsin went forward with a controversial in-person election, which Sanders had called to be postponed. The Vermont senator was momentarily the frontrunner for the nomination, following a popular-vote win in Iowa, a win in New Hampshire, and a decisive victory in Nevada. His chances fell apart in South Carolina, where the dean of the state party, Rep. Jim Clyburn, gave an impassioned endorsement to former Vice President Joe Biden. A race that had been narrowing turned into a blowout.
Party moderates then coalesced around Biden, who soared in the polls, pulling off the biggest comeback in the shortest amount of time, measured by a swing in the polls, since the modern primary process began in 1972. Biden won a majority of states on Super Tuesday and continued racking up victories throughout March.
First Lady Melania Trump’s ‘peace letter’ to Putin: ‘It is time’
Brother of woman who vanished from cruise 27 years ago reveals critical third witness
Mutant Rabbits Sprouting Tentacles from Their Heads in Colorado: Here’s What’s Responsible
Putin Drops Revelation at Summit: Russia Would Not Have Invaded if Trump Had Been President
Victim’s girlfriend among 9 teens arrested in 16-year-old’s beach town murder
Frauds: UN Dropped Measurement for ‘Famine’ by 50%, Giving Media What It Needed to Show Israel Starving Children
Portland Preacher Warns of Darkness in Leftist City, Then Shares Gospel – 3,000 Come to Jesus
Government papers containing details on Trump-Putin summit found in printer of Alaskan hotel: Report
Trump’s DHS touts massive number of illegal immigrants deported as Dems lash out at ICE
Trump closes out 30th week in office with ‘very warm’ high-stakes Putin meeting
Top House Dem sides with Mamdani critics on key controversy surrounding his campaign: ‘Legitimate issue’
State Department stops issuing all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza
Trump: We’re going straight to Russia-Ukraine peace deal, ‘not a mere ceasefire’
Knife-Wielding Intruder Confronts Armed Homeowner — Only One of Them Walks Away
Maui officer killed in line of duty, police chief calls her ‘the finest of us’
Some in Sanders’s inner circle — including, most vocally, Our Revolution Chair and labor leader Larry Cohen — urged Sanders to stay in the race in order to build his delegate total and leverage that for policy wins within the Democratic Party’s platform. Others argued the platform is largely meaningless and that his greatest leverage is in the Senate, where the economy is being reshaped by an ongoing series of relief efforts historic in scope and scale.
The Sanders campaign had raised $182 million by the end of February, with roughly $19 million cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission records. The Biden campaign, meanwhile, had raised $88 million and had $12 million cash on hand at that point in the campaign.
Sanders’s exit is a boost for Biden, particularly as it relates to campaign finance. Without a primary opponent, he can move more quickly to the general election phase of the race, during which he can spend money raised for that purpose. Had the contest gone all the way to the August convention without Biden having locked up the necessary delegates, he would be restricted to his scarce primary funds only. It’s not entirely clear when Biden can tap general election funds, and lawyers are working to move the date up as much as possible, sources said.
Sanders will be addressing his supporters via livestream at 11:45 a.m. ET.
Story cited here.
