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.
Academics and CEOs dominate Fed advisory boards
28 for ’28: The open presidential race field could reach more than two dozen candidates
Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ is clumsy, anachronistic, and badly acted
China’s routing of Biden in chip war with US created a communist tech giant
Witnesses recount ‘scary’ NYC stabbing after suspect allegedly yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ during attacks
Multiple injured after floatplane makes emergency landing, catches fire off Washington coast
California mayor’s hot mic catches candid exchange after audience sends meeting off rails
Never Forget Dems Supported Large-Scale Deportations Until Trump Took Up the Issue – Just Listen to What Obama Said in 2014
Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman admits to sufficient facts in June drunken driving case
Rubio unveils visa restrictions targeting cybercrime networks
House Democrats Furious at Their Own Campaign Arm Over Expensive Primary Blunder
Ex-Dem Legislator Arrested Over Child Porn, But It’s 7 Words from FBI Investigator That Will Make You Sick to Your Stomach
Hunter Biden Blasts CNN’s Jake Tapper as a ‘Poor Journalist’ and a Terrible Person in NSFW Comments
Dem’s stunning ideal standard for immigration detention conditions resurfaces amid Texas senate bid
Lauren Boebert Says She Missed Key House Vote Because She Was Misinformed by GOP Staffers
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.
