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.
Los Angeles Electric School Bus Bursts Into Flames, Driver Hospitalized
Leaked lessons from first-year University of Illinois education course show extreme left bias: ‘Just so wrong’
Gruesome Charges: She Was a Miss Switzerland Finalist Then Her Husband Used an Industrial Blender to ‘Puree’ Her – That Was After He Cut Out Her Womb
Person of interest in custody following deadly shooting at Brown University
Platner courts progressives as Maine Senate race with Mills and Collins tightens
How fears of being labeled ‘racist’ helped ‘provide cover’ for the exploding Minnesota fraud scandal
Poll: Trump Holds Double-Digit Leading Majority Over Democrats Regarding Who Americans Trust to Manage the Economy
New York to spend $2 million providing mental health services to Afghan refugees
After Trump Break-Up, MTG Seeks to Build ‘Bridges’ with Feminist Left-Wing CCP-Linked Activists
Law enforcement expert warns early details ‘often change’ as manhunt intensifies at Brown University
Elite Ivy League campus latest to grapple with mass shooting as violence erupts at Brown University
FBI ousts reinstated whistleblower over unauthorized media talks, ‘poor judgment’
Breaking: Shooting at Brown University, 2 Dead
Op-Ed: The Friendly Housekeepers’ Fraud
Op-Ed: Political Division Is So Severe America Should Split in Two
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.
