Bernie Sanders endorses Hillary Clinton

[DFighter]

Portsmouth, New Hampshire (CNN)Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders formally declared an end to their political rivalry Tuesday, joining forces to take on a shared enemy: Donald Trump.

"I have come here to make it as clear as possible why I am endorsing Hillary Clinton and why she must become our next president," Sanders said at a joint rally here. "Secretary Clinton has won the Democratic nomination and I congratulate her for that."

The 74-year-old self-described democratic socialist, who has been a thorn in Clinton's side over the last year, pledged to support his former rival through Election Day: "I intend to do everything I can to make certain she will be the next president of the United States."

But there appeared to be little natural chemistry between Clinton and Sanders and their body language was noticeably stiff. The two avoided physical contact after first walking on stage together, and Sanders, in his 30-minute speech, repeatedly mentioned Clinton by name without acknowledging that she was standing next to him looking on.

After concluding his speech, Sanders appeared to move in for a handshake -- which Clinton ignored by stretching out her arms and offering a hug, instead.

"We are joining forces to defeat Donald Trump!" Clinton declared. "I can't help but say how much more enjoyable this election is going to be when we are on the same side. You know what? We are stronger together!"

And even as she struck a victorious tone, Clinton also repeatedly and directly addressed the Sanders supporters in the high school gymnasium.

She walked through a number of policy issues where Sanders had pulled her to the left during the course of the election -- minimum wage; the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, college affordability -- to make a broader concession: the movement that Sanders created was nothing short of a political revolution.

"Sen. Sanders has brought people off the sidelines and into the political process. He has energized and inspired a generation of young people who care deeply about our country," she said. "To everyone here and everyone cross the country who poured your heart and soul into Sen. Sanders' campaign: Thank you."

The long-anticipated unity event, coming less than two weeks ahead of the Democratic National Convention, effectively puts to rest Democratic fears of a political nightmare scenario: that Sanders might sit on his hands in the general election, or worse, run as a third-party candidate on the left.

Clinton aides are confident that Sanders -- who excited the liberal base and won young voters by large margins during the primary -- could be a potent weapon against Trump and help Clinton rev up liberal voters.

But even at an occasion meant to turn the page on their primary battle, Sanders reminded Clinton, who stood next to him on stage, of the millions of Americans who had rejected her.

"Let me begin by thanking the 13 million Americans who voted for me during the Democratic primaries," Sanders said. "Our campaign won the primaries and caucuses in 22 states, and when the roll call at the Democratic National Convention is announced, it will show that we won almost 1,900 delegates."

Tuesday's event is the byproduct of weeks of conversations between Robby Mook, Clinton's campaign manager, and Jeff Weaver, Sanders' top and most trusted aide.

Aides and advisers said that while Sanders and Clinton's June meeting in Washington, D.C., laid the groundwork for the New Hampshire event, it was Mook and Weaver who made the cooperation between the campaigns possible. After Clinton and Sanders left their meeting at the Hilton, Mook and Weaver stayed for two hours to discuss how to work together.

The two campaign managers would continue to talk daily, a Clinton aide said, and Mook traveled to Burlington, Vermont -- where Sanders' campaign is headquartered -- last month so that the two could meet at the Farmhouse Tap and Grill to continue their work together.

Sanders groups, supporters begin to coalesce around Clinton

With Mook munching on a salad and Weaver eating a burger, the two hammered out how Clinton and Sanders could come together for an event like Tuesday's rally - and how the rivals could work together going forward. Mook also began working directly with Jane Sanders, the senator's wife, in the lead up to policy Clinton's announcements on college affordability and healthcare that moved her closer to Sanders' positions.

Tuesday's endorsement will help Clinton "enormously," said former Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, a Clinton supporter who co-chairs the party's Rules Committee.

And in a nod to Sanders's successful fundraising efforts that brought in millions of dollars from small donors, with at one time an average donation of $27, Clinton's campaign has made $27 an option on its online donor page.

Hard feelings still persist among Sanders backers

But converting all Sanders fans may be impossible.

"Given, frankly, some of the criticism that he made, I think it will take work to get all of them there," Frank said.

At the rally, where both Sanders and Clinton signs, T-shirts and buttons dotted the crowd, there were plenty of Sanders loyalists who said they are not sold on Clinton -- and might never convert.

Marie Clark, a Sanders supporter from Laconia, New Hampshire, said she remains devoted to Sanders -- or no one. "I'm Bernie or Bust," said Clark, who plans to write Sanders in.

Asked whether she thought that would help Trump, she said, "I think people need to vote for something rather than against something."

"I want to vote for someone who has integrity, someone who has been consistent for 40 years," Clark said. "I will always support a political revolution."

Patti Covino drove from Vermont to attend Tuesday's event and held a sign that read: "Only Bernie."

"I would follow Bernie to the ends of the earth, but I will never follow him to Hillary," Covino said. "I'm not voting for Trump, I will write Bernie in. It doesn't matter what he says."

Trump has sought to appeal to Sanders supporters, saying he better represents Americans angry at the political establishment than Clinton does. Clinton believes Sanders can capture those attracted to Trump, especially in states the senator won such as New Hampshire, Michigan and Wisconsin.

In advance of the event, Trump criticized the endorsement on Twitter, saying Sanders, "totally sold out to Crooked Hillary Clinton."

"I am somewhat surprised that Bernie Sanders was not true to himself and his supporters. They are not happy that he is selling out!" Trump tweeted.

Clinton efforts to appeal to liberals

Sanders' endorsement had been elusive for Clinton long after she clinched the nomination. For weeks, Sanders refused to concede, continuing to hold rallies and advocate for his agenda, rattling Democrats eager to begin the general election.

Sanders poised to endorse Clinton in New Hampshire

But with the primary season firmly behind her, appeasing liberals with the help of Sanders and popular Democrats like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is now just one piece of her broader challenge of winning over large swaths of the general election electorate, including independents.

Clinton's final victory over Sanders comes at the end of a long campaign in which she repeatedly moved to accommodate him and the liberal activists behind his campaign. She reversed her position on sensitive political issues like the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and the Keystone XL Pipeline -- two projects that progressive staunchly oppose.

nd last week, Clinton announced a new college affordability plan that mirrored Sanders' proposals. It proposes tuition-free enrollment in public in-state colleges for families making up to $85,000, with the income benchmark increasing to $125,000 over the course of several years.

Sanders also was able to win concessions from Clinton for language in the Democratic party platform last weekend in Orlando, including a provision calling for a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage.

"We got 80% of what we wanted in this platform," Warren Gunnels, a top Sanders foreign policy adviser, told CNN.

The perception that Sanders has dragged his feet -- and forced Clinton to move left in a protracted primary race -- has frustrated some Democrats.

Jim Kessler, senior vice president of policy at the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way, said Tuesday's endorsement was weeks overdue.

"The idea of trying to extract concessions out of the nominee when we're going to be in a brutal fight against he most unqualified Republican nominee ever was not helpful," Kessler said. "The middle is where this is going to be fought. So any time that the candidate is being pressed to move to the left, you have to ask: am I going to lose votes in the center?"

Mook and other Clinton aides have worked to win over Sanders supporters as well. Mook held meeting with Sanders' delegates in New Hampshire and Vermont. Marlon Marshall, the campaign's director of States and Political Engagement, traveled to the Wyoming to speak with Sanders delegates there. And Jake Sullivan, Clinton's top policy adviser, spoke with Sanders supporters in Washington state.

Clinton's campaign has also worked to hire Sanders aides. Rich Pelletier, Sanders' deputy campaign manager, started sending Marshall resumes last month and the Clinton campaign in Brooklyn has started to bring on former Sanders aides. Clinton's Vermont and Rhode Island general election campaign managers are both former Sanders staffers, as is Clinton's head of college and university engagement.

One Clinton confidant acknowledged that while Tuesday's event will not be a "panacea" to everything that was said during the primary, everyone involved expects Sanders to be "gracious enough."

Green Party leader: 'Berning hearts are breaking'

Sanders' announcement also marks the senator's decision to join the political establishment rather than shun it. Throughout the primary season, Democratic leaders feared that Sanders would go rogue with his political revolution and launch a third party campaign.

Recently, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein had asked Sanders to join forces, even offering him the top spot on the Green Party ticket.

Tuesday morning, Stein began a series of tweets, declaring, "Many Berning hearts are breaking right now."

In an interview with CNN on Monday, Stein expressed her disappointment and warned that many Sanders supporters will not jump on Clinton's bandwagon.

"There are a lot of unhappy campers out there who will not follow Sanders back into the graveyard of the Democratic Party," Stein said. "A revolution that goes back under Hillary Clinton's wing is not a revolution."

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/11/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/index.html

[Internet Explorer]

Lol so after spending months campaigning against her and pointing out her faults....he endorses her....the irony

[daredevil]

The stupidity at it's best. He probably got the nice check to stfu or he got all along from the beginning. 

[meow]

The stupidity at it's best. He probably got the nice check to stfu or he got all along from the beginning. 

 

Or that he would mysteriously disappear

[daredevil]

Or that he would mysteriously disappear

 

With that popularity, I see it's all about money. Politics in USA is changing. Before it was about country and people and now it's more about the power. 

[Anton Chigurh]

So the 58th quadrennial on november 8 will be interesting.

[Platonic]

He's just doing what needs to be done. He knows his campaign has lost. The only way to get something out of it is by getting some promises from Clinton. She knows she needs liberals on her side to defeat trump. He knows he needs Clinton to get closer to achieving his ideas.

I'm also positive he won't stfu. He will support Clinton during the election, but he will keep reminding her of his ideas when she's in office.

 

I would have preferred to see him win, but I can't criticize this rational decision.

[DFighter]

Well as european I dont experience US politicians but afterall I think obama did it pretty good concidering who was before him president and who will be after him president.
Even Dutch politicians are generally also morons I still have the feeling the try to serve their citizens, however what I see here ( as in the news in The Netherlands ) about US politics it looks more like a shit season of house of cards
I feel they dont serve the citizens simply only themselves with politicial games and lies and I think many europeans find Obama a good president better then what the USA had like bush and clinton for example  and well trump and h clinton doesnt look much better either. specially trump really gonna be a disaster not just for the USA but for the entire world

[Smultronstallet]

So the dilemma is this:

 

Statu quo (Clinton) or falling to the messages of a narcissistic media manipulator (Trump).

 

Trump is just taking advantage of the anger of a white, working-class group that is not being represented by the Democrats or the Republicans... Don is selling the illusion of nationalist economic policies for working-class groups hit hard by deindustralization and outsourcing.

 

Two quotes from a recent article of Francis Fukuyama published in Foreign Affairs (full article)

 

One of the great mysteries of contemporary American politics—why rural working-class whites, particularly in southern states with limited social services, have flocked to the banner of the Republicans even though they have been among the greatest beneficiaries of Republican-opposed programs, such as Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

 

For all his faults, Trump has broken with the Republican orthodoxy that has prevailed since Ronald Reagan, a low-tax, small-safety-net orthodoxy that benefits corporations much more than their workers.

[daredevil]

Obama care is BS. After Obama care my insurance jumped from 120$/month to 210$ on an avg. Obama care is good for unemployed people but not good for working people. More or less now competition is gone and you can't enroll in the middle. I was much happier before Obama care.  They should have made insurance open to all, pick whatever whenever u like and for others who can't afford it, use Obama care. 

[Mr.Karizmatic]

lol looks like indian politicians... they also jump partys alot haha... this is really BS tbh ... they alone could defeat trumph ... but a pay check wouldnt hurt barny

[DFighter]

Obama care is BS. After Obama care my insurance jumped from 120$/month to 210$ on an avg. Obama care is good for unemployed people but not good for working people. More or less now competition is gone and you can't enroll in the middle. I was much happier before Obama care.  They should have made insurance open to all, pick whatever whenever u like and for others who can't afford it, use Obama care. 

I understand your point it's here generally the same since obama care is based on our healthcare system we also pay around 180 to 200 dollar a month its a lot indeed.

but in that case I find the blame lays at company's that pay shitty wages simply to increase there own profit

and why I fin this:  if 2 people working 1 earns 4000 dollar a month and the other 2000 a month both work as hard and generally the lower paid jobs are fysical more heavy

why should a person that work his ass off can get less healthcare simply because either he isnt as smart as someone high educated or he simply have other skills or simply get half the wage someone else have while he also have to work his ass of just as someone with a higher wage 

 

oke those who dont do shit and dont want to work and only want to take advantage  that's a shit group and for those it really sucks to pay more

but in my view someone who works who tries his whole life his best and have to work maybe even harder for a shit wage then someone with a good wage well for those im happy they can get the same healthcare as everyone and not suddenly stay behind with a huge debt that he simply / probably cant pay anyway