The presidential campaign of progressive superhero and Independent United States Senator Bernie Sanders was over long ago. Though refusing to formally drop out of the race, he had been signaling an imminent capitulation to the Democratic establishment that represents everything he opposes. First, Senator Sanders stated he would do everything within his power to stop probable Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Then he followed up by saying he would probably vote for Associated Press-nominated candidate Hillary Clinton. While many supporters pointed out he hadn’t officially used the word “endorse” yet, it was clear the direction things were going in.
Now the time has arrived.
At a campaign rally for Clinton, Senator Sanders has officially announced his support for Hillary Clinton for President. It’s a stunning moment, because the Vermont Senator literally sold out everything he stood for.
At the rally, Senator Sanders stated the former Secretary of State had won the Democratic presidential primary. This is false and most of his own supporters now that. The threshold for delegates was never reached during the primary and the Associated Press even admitted as much when they called the primary. In the press release by the Associated Press, they stated Clinton won because of a survey of superdelegates who still haven’t yet voted for the Democratic nominee.
The media literally called it on a survey and Senator Sanders endorsed this assessment of the race.
Flashback to the announcement of his candidacy in April of 2015, Senator Sanders warned the political world he should not be underestimated. In the announcement, he referred to his career as an Independent United States Senator and thus running against both Democrats and Republicans. He made note of his ability to take on “big money” candidates and oppose the machine, regardless of political party.
Now Senator Sanders is joining the world of partisan politics, putting his new political party before his principles and joining the Wall Street billionaires he claimed to oppose. All the wars that his supporters decried have the common denominator of Hillary Clinton, who Senator Sanders now supports.
Has Senator Sanders forgotten Clinton’s support of the invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation, which was done without proper constitutional authorization by Congress? Has Senator Sanders forgotten how Clinton justified her close relationship with Wall Street by using the terrorist attacks of September 11th as an excuse? What about the bailouts?
Many understand that Donald Trump is not the number one candidate of many people. Even many Republicans will admit they’re uneasy with him. This is why a diverse number of Republicans ranging from mainstream moderates to staunch conservatives and even libertarians are jumping ship, looking elsewhere at third parties. They understand that Clinton is a terrible candidate and would be a bad President. But if we are to start turning the ship away from shallow politics and towards more principled discourse, there has to be a starting point somewhere.
In endorsing Hillary Clinton for President, Senator Bernie Sanders looked his own movement of devout supporters straight in the eye and said there is no starting point, thus no future. It’s over.
