Bernie Sanders is remaining in the race – at least through Sunday’s Democratic debate – he said Wednesday, noting that while he’s behind in the race for delegates he’s winning the battle for ideas and the support of young voters.
‘On Sunday, I look very much forward to the debate in Arizona with my friend Joe Biden,’ Sanders said, as he delivered a statement from Burlington, Vermont at 1 p.m.
The future of Sanders’ campaign was in question after his bruising loss in Michigan Tuesday night. ‘Last night, obviously, was not a good night for our campaign from a delegate point of view,’ Sanders said.
While Mississippi, Idaho and Missouri also went into Joe Biden’s column, Michigan was Sanders’ last, best path to the Democratic nomination.
That didn’t matter.
‘We are strongly winning in two enormously important areas, which will determine the future of our country,’ Sanders said Wednesday. ‘Poll after poll including exit polls show that a strong majority of the American people support our progressive agenda.’
Beyond winning the ideological debate, Sanders said, ‘We are winning the generational debate.’
Bernie Sanders announced Wednesday after a bruising set of primaries, including a pivotal loss in Michigan, that he was staying in the 2020 Democratic primary anyway and would debate frontrunner Joe Biden on Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona
Bernie Sanders, giving a statement in Burlington, Vermont, said while his campaign is losing the delegate race and the electability argument, he’s winning the battle of ideas and is doing overwhelmingly well with young voters, which he said was enough of a reason to stay in
Jane Sanders (right) drives Bernie Sanders (left) home after he made a statement Wednesday in Burlington, Vermont on the status of his presidential campaign. Sanders said he’ll remain in the race for now, but vowed to help beat President Trump
Bernie Sanders is photographed leaving the Hotel Vermont after delivering a campaign update to reporters on Wednesday afternoon. Sanders said he’ll remain in the race and debate Joe Biden in Phoenix on Sunday
‘While Joe Biden continues to do very well with older Americans, especially those people over 65, our campaign continues to win the vast majority of the votes of younger people – and I am talking about people not just in their 20s, but in their 30s and their 40s, the younger generations of this country continue, in very strong numbers, to support our campaign,’ Sanders continued.
‘Today I say to the Democratic establishment, in order to win in the future you need to win the voters who represent the future of our country and you must speak to the issues of concern to them,’ Sanders added. ‘You cannot simply be satisfied by winning the votes of people who are older.’
Sanders conceded that his campaign was also losing the debate over electability.
‘I cannot tell you how many people our campaign has spoken to who has said, and I quote, I like what you’re campaign stands for, I agree with what you’re campaign stands for, but I’m going to vote for Joe Biden because I think Joe is the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump, end of quote. We have heard that statement all over this country,’ Sanders said.
‘Needless to say, I strongly disagree with that assertion, but that is what millions of Democrats and independents today believe,’ the Vermont senator added.
Bernie Sanders spent ‘Super Tuesday 2’ campaigning in Michigan, which was his last, best hope to win the nomination. With an early call that the state had gone to Joe Biden, Sanders campaign found itself in trouble
Bernie Sanders pulled out all the stops to win Michigan – he even participated in a Fox News Town Hall Monday night – but Joe Biden was able to win the state along with Mississippi, Missouri and Idaho as part of the Super Tuesday 2 races this week
Bernie Sanders (right) walks with rapper Killer Mike (left) as he campaigns in South Carolina the day before the first-in-the-south primary. His loss and Joe Biden’s win there turned the top two Democratic candidates’ chances around
Bernie Sanders (left) holds hands with one of his most potent surrogates, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (right). The two held rallies all around the country together, including one in December on Venice Beach in Los Angeles. Sanders would go on to win California
Bernie Sanders has attracted thousands to his rallies and points to that attendance to argue that his campaign had more energy than the one being run by former Vice President Joe Biden, who hasn’t gotten those kinds of numbers in the flesh
The democratic socialist then turned to Sunday’s debate in Phoenix, Arizona.
On Tuesday CNN and the Democratic National Committee, who are hosting the debate, announced it would no longer have an audience, nor would press be able to watch it – and then engage with the campaigns – in the spin room, over coronavirus fears.
Instead Sanders and Biden will be left to their own devices onstage.
Sanders said he planned to prod Biden on his resistance to Medicare-for-all, one of the biggest policy differences between the top two Democratic hopefuls. Sanders supports it while Biden has pitched improving Obamacare. Biden has been so resistant to Medicare-for-all that he said if he wouldn’t pick a running mate who backs it.
The Vermont senator said he also planned to push Biden on his education plans – including student debt relief. Sanders supports making public colleges and trade schools tuition-free. He’s also pitched wiping out much of the nation’s student loan debt.
Sanders also said he’d bring up ‘billionaires buying elections’ and income inequality.
‘So let me conclude the way I began,’ Sanders said. ‘Donald Trump must be defeated and I will do everything in my power to make that happen.’
‘On Sunday night on the first one-on-one debate of this campaign, the American people will have the opportunity to see which candidate is best-positioned to accomplish that goal,’ Sanders added.
He left the podium without answering questions.
Two weeks ago, the idea that Sanders’ campaign had crumbled to the point that many thought he might drop out Wednesday would be a stunning admission.
At that point, the democratic socialist was coming off a 26.6 point victory over Biden in the Nevada caucuses, showing his new strength among Latino voters.
Sanders had also gotten the most votes in Iowa, though Pete Buttigieg won the caucuses by the traditional delegate standard. He then won his next-door-neighbor state of New Hampshire, though with Buttigieg nipping at his toes.
Meanwhile Biden’s campaign looked underwater.
The former vice president – long considered the candidate to beat – came in a disappointing fourth place in the Iowa caucuses and an even worse fifth place in New Hampshire.
His distant second place, according to him on caucus day, was enough, Biden predicted, to turn the ship around.
Then, two weeks ago, Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina – the most powerful black member in Congress – gave his endorsement to Biden.
Biden won the first-in-the-south primary over Sanders by 28.5 points.
That one win was enough for Biden to attract a flurry of endorsements from moderate Democrats, including some of his ex-rivals.
In Dallas, Texas the night before the 14 ‘Super Tuesday’ states voted, Biden appeared with Buttigieg and later Amy Klobuchar and Beto O’Rourke.
Biden then had a better than expected night on ‘Super Tuesday,’ eventually winning 10 of the 14 states where votes were cast.
Sanders wasn’t able to to bite into Biden’s hold on African-American voters, especially in southern states like Virginia and North Carolina, which were quickly called for the former vice president.
Sanders eventually won the biggest delegate prize of the night – California – but the narrative was already set: Biden had restored his frontrunner status, especially with surprise wins in states like Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas.
The week after Super Tuesday only spelled worse news for Sanders as powerful Democrats continued to coalesce around Biden.
The ex-veep got the endorsements of more ex-rivals including Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren, who dropped out of the race after a poor Super Tuesday showing, decided not to endorse either candidate.
As a fellow progressive, she might have been able to help Sanders, but she demurred.
With Michigan going for Biden and Washington state basically a tie between Sanders and Biden, the Vermont senator has little room to grow.
And he might face an increasingly hostile Democratic establishment if he refuses to budge and the writing is on the wall.
The Super Tuesday 2 races would make Biden the ‘prohibitive favorite,’ said Clyburn Tuesday night as the votes were being counted.
‘And quite frankly, if the night ends the way it has begun, I think it is time for us to shut this primary down, it is time for us to cancel the rest of these debates,’ Clyburn said on NPR. ‘Because you don’t do anything but get yourself in trouble if you continue in this contest when it’s obvious that the numbers will not shake out for you.’
James Carville, who has been on an anti-Sanders tear, also suggested that the Democrats end the primary with Biden’s rise.
‘Let’s shut this puppy down, and let’s move on and worry about November,’ Carville said Tuesday night on MSNBC. ‘This thing is decided. There’s no reason to keep it going, not even a day longer,’ the ex-Bill Clinton aide said.