After a long and hard-fought four months, the Democratic primary season ended last week with the final primary in the District of Columbia. Presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton won the district with 78 percent of the total vote, compared to rival Bernie Sanders’ 21 percent.
Although Hillary Clinton currently leads in both delegates and the popular vote with the primaries finished, Senator Sanders says he will not back down.
Sanders cites his “political revolution” as his main motivation to stay in the race. In a virtual address from his hometown of Burlington, Vermont, Sanders thanked the millions of people who came out to support his campaign during the primary season.
“Real change never takes place from the top down, or in the living rooms of wealthy campaign contributors. It always occurs from the bottom on up – when tens of millions of people say ‘enough is enough’ and become engaged in the fight for justice. That’s what the political revolution we helped start is all about. That’s why the political revolution must continue,” Sanders remarked.
Sanders also hopes he can lure superdelegates over to his campaign that are already committed to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. However, with Clinton having nearly 2,200 pledged delegates ,the road to a Sanders victory seems difficult.
Nevertheless, it is not entirely the end of the road for the Vermont senator. He is committed to staying in the race in order to have a presence in the Democratic platform and to fight the so-called “establishment,” the group of Democratic officials who tend to support Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Sanders and Clinton have nearly equal say in the formation of the Democratic platform. Several people chosen by both campaigns gather to draft policies that outlines the goals of both campaigns. Sanders, a notable opponent of Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), wants to show the DNC leaders that a political revolution can occur across the country without needing the help from Super PACs and establishment political figures.
Sanders has had a difficult relationship with Wasserman-Schultz since the start of his campaign because of her decisions throughout the primary season. Sanders called on Wasserman-Schultz to add more debates to allow the American people to see the differences between Clinton and himself. Wasserman-Schultz had only scheduled six debates, fewer than the amount of debates in previous cycles.
Another conflict arose when Wasserman-Schultz was made aware of data breach within the Democratic party. The Sanders campaign had accessed files belonging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Wasserman-Schultz cut off Sanders’ access to Democratic voter files, angering the campaign. The issue was resolved several days later, but left bitter tensions between the DNC and the Sanders campaign.
Although his race is technically over, Bernie Sanders wishes to remain a key figure in the presidential election, and says he will do “anything to help Hillary Clinton and make sure that Donald Trump is not elected President.”