On July 12, former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton at a joint rally in New Hampshire.
A self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, Sanders had been the biggest political opponent of Clinton’s during his run for presidency. However, during the rally he stated that “I have come here to make it clear as possible why I am endorsing Hillary Clinton and why she must become our next President.”
The reason: the shared adversary of the two Democrats, Donald Trump.
“We are joining forces to defeat Donald Trump! I can’t help but say how much more enjoyable this election is going to be when we are on the same side,” proclaimed Clinton.
Sanders claimed that he would support Clinton until Election Day, saying that he intended to do everything he could “to make certain she will be the next President of the United States.”
However, there seemed to be no chemistry between the two. They avoided physical contact, and during Sanders’ 30-minute speech, he mentioned Clinton by name instead of actually acknowledging the fact she was standing just a few feet away from him. Additionally, Sanders reminded Clinton of all the voters that chose him over her; “Let me begin by thanking the 13 million Americans who voted for me during the Democratic primaries.”
However, Clinton seemed to be extremely enthusiastic about her new ally. Throughout the entire rally, she addressed Sanders’ supporters - mostly young liberals, a demographic that Sanders appealed greatly to and had marginally more supporters in than the other nominees- by listing a number of topics, including minimum wage and college affordability, where Sanders convinced her to take on more liberal viewpoints.
The partnership would help Clinton’s campaign “enormously,” claimed former Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, a Clinton supporter. However, there has been a strong, and mostly negative, response from Sanders’ supporters.
Since the rally, there has been a comeback of the #BernieLostMe on social media. This tag was first used in response to an event at which a group of his supporters became violent. Now, this tag is being used to describe the disappointment of Sanders’ “selling out” by endorsing Clinton.
This team-up between her and Sanders is not totally unexpected however. For weeks, Clinton has been appealing to the liberal voters that supported Sanders during the primaries. She has already gotten the endorsement of other popular liberal politicians such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. Last week, she also proposed two new policies: one that would make public in-state colleges free of tuition and another that would raise the minimum wage from its current $7.25 to $15 an hour.
She is not the only one who is trying to pick up Sanders’ supporters; even Trump is hoping to gain new supporters. He tried to appeal to them by saying that he better represented Americans that are unhappy with the political establishment than Clinton did.
It seems that although Sanders’ endorsement may have helped Clinton by a small margin, the majority of Bernie supporters have made up their minds about her and Trump, and many of those who are vocal about it do not have good things to say about the pair. However, nothing is certain until Election Day, which is approaching rapidly, with the date set for November 8.