 |
| Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary race |
Sen. Bernie
Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary race Wednesday, paving the way
for Joe Biden to be officially declared the party’s nominee.
Addressing
supporters in a livesteam, the self-described Democratic socialist, 78, said
the decision to suspend his presidential campaign was “difficult and painful”
but he understood there was no path forward.
Still, he
said, he
will stay on the ballot in the remaining primary states to push his
ideological agenda at the Democratic National Convention.
The
announcement comes after the former vice president trounced
the Vermont independent in three primaries.
It also
comes as the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and growing calls
for primaries to be postponed to avoid big social gatherings, especially with
no clear path to victory left for Sanders.
Biden
defeated Sanders in Florida, Illinois and Arizona last month and holds a large
delegate lead, 1,217 to Sanders’ 914.
A candidate
needs to gather 1,991 delegates to be nominated at July’s Democratic National
Convention.
The
senator’s campaign looked all but finished when he suffered
a heart attack on the campaign trail in October.
But Sanders
stayed in the race and became the front-runner after a series of razor-thin
victories in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
However,
Sanders lost his large lead when the Democratic Party rapidly
coalesced against the self-described Democratic socialist outsider in
early March to boost Biden’s ailing campaign.
Biden, 77,
made a pitch to Sanders’ supporters during a livestreamed speech last month
after thumping the Vermont senator in the last round of primaries, forecasting
the fate of his upstart campaign.
“Sen.
Sanders and I may disagree on tactics, but we share a common vision for the
need to provide affordable health care for all Americans, reduce income
inequality that has risen so drastically, to tackling the existential threat of
our time, climate change,” he said.
“Sen.
Sanders and his supporters have brought a remarkable passion and tenacity to
all of these issues. Together, they have shifted the fundamental conversation
in this country,” Biden added.
“So let me
say, especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Sen. Sanders: I
hear you. I know what’s at stake. I know what we have to do.”
Source New York Post
No comments:
Post a Comment