THE DEMOCRATIC DREAM TICKET IS STILL ALIVE: BERNIE SANDERS WON’T RULE OUT SERVING AS HILLARY CLINTON’S VICE PRESIDENT
For true believers who hope to see Bernie Sanders on the Democratic ticket come November, hope springs eternal. Although many poll watchers and pundits now believe that Sanders cannot win the required number of delegates for the Democratic nomination, the candidate himself remains steadfast in assertions that he will stay in the running until the Democratic National Convention at the end of July. Moreover, even if Hillary Clinton grabs the top spot on the ticket, Bernie Sanders seems willing to entertain a supporting role as vice president.
“Right now, we are focused on the next five weeks of winning the Democratic nomination,” Sanders told CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer when asked if he would be interested in serving as Hillary Clinton’s vice president. “If that does not happen, we are going to fight as hard as we can on the floor of the Democratic convention to make sure that we have a progressive platform that the American people will support. Then, after that, certainly Secretary Clinton and I can talk and see where we go from there.”
Although Bernie Sanders has not explicitly indicated he would be interested in being Hillary Clinton’s running mate, his tone at the moment is far more conciliatory than that of former contenders on the Republican side of the race. Now the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump is reportedly mulling his own candidates for a running mate. But bitter divisions and personality conflicts have marred the GOP’s primary bouts and a number of Trump’s former rivals – including Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz – seem unlikely to join Trump in the Republican equivalent of a “dream ticket.”
In a recent item for the New Yorker, writer John Cassidy effectively argued the importance of Sanders’ continued presence in the primary season whether or not he can ultimately end up on the ballot. Noting that Bernie Sanders has garnered the unwavering support of a vast swath of voters, Cassidy also argued that Sanders has done a good deal of damage to Hillary Clinton’s standing in the eyes of some Democratic voters and that the senator is tasked with mending fences with a heartfelt endorsement before he steps to the side.
Such a gesture by Bernie Sanders is still fodder for the far-flung future, though. Indeed, earlier in the day on Friday Sanders told Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz that his campaign may not readily concede to Hillary Clinton depending on the situation once the convention convenes on July 25.
“If the process is set up to produce an unfair, one-sided result, we are prepared to mobilize our delegates to force as many votes as necessary to amend the platform and rules on the floor of the convention,” Sanders said in a letter to Wasserman Schultz, as reported by CBS News.
Hillary Clinton currently holds a significant lead over Bernie Sanders with regard to the delegates secured during the 2016 primaries. Of particular concern to the Sanders camp is the Democratic Party’s use of weighted “superdelegates,” which Sanders regards as an unfair representation of party interests versus the wishes and opinions of voters.
For her part, Hillary Clinton has largely pivoted towards taking on Donald Trump over the course of recent weeks. She also appears to have warmed up to Bernie Sanders remaining in the race for the foreseeable future, likening his current position to her situation in 2008 when Clinton was overtaken by Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.
[Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images]
