Bernie Sanders: Clinton Voter
Without actually conceding, he makes it clear he's not going to be making any radical moves post-defeat.
Sen. Bernie Sanders will vote for Hillary Clinton, he says. He still hasn't conceded, though, that he's actually lost the nomination yet. Way to sell out to Wall Street, Bernie! From Politico:
"Yes," the Vermont senator said when asked on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" whether he would vote for the former secretary of state this fall. "I think the issue right here is, I'm gonna do everything I can to defeat Donald Trump."
In an appearance on CNN's "New Day," however, Sanders' stance wasn't as firm. Asked who his vote would go to on Nov. 8, Sanders responded, "In all likelihood, it will go to Hillary Clinton."
Sanders told "CBS This Morning" that his campaign and Clinton's have been communicating and working closely, but he hasn't endorsed her "because I haven't heard her say the things that I think need to be said."
That immediate slight walking back is because he doesn't want to give up any sort of leverage he might have in influencing the Democratic Party's platform and wants to continue pulling them to the democratic socialist left. He said that in order to secure a full "endorsement" Clinton will have to endorse tuition-free college, $15 per hour minimum wages, and health care for everybody. Clinton is not endorsing "tuition-free college" entirely (she is in favor of free community college) but wants to make it so that students and families don't have to get loans to pay for public state colleges. She has already capitulated and declared she would support a $15 minimum wage. One assumes "health care for everybody" from Sanders means his proposal for a complete government takeover with universal health care. Clinton is not going anywhere near that far, and I can't imagine that she will. Clinton is all about "affordability," not free (or the version of "free" where you pay the government to give you things).
Anyway, it's a signal to Sanders' supporters that he's probably not really going to make some sort of radical move after losing the nomination. There is an open question as to where Sanders' supporters are going to go because a good chunk of them just really, really, really do not like Clinton. A recent poll shows 22 percent of Sanders' supporters saying they'll vote for Donald Trump and another 18 percent saying they'll vote for Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson. But as Jesse Walker noted, it's very likely a good chunk of these folks—once they're done licking their wounds—will choose Clinton in November, even if they really don't like her right now.
