Hillary Clinton’s slogan of “Stronger Together” got a little bit stronger Tuesday evening in Portsmouth, N.H., when Sen. Bernie Sanders enthusiastically endorsed Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate.
Setting aside all rumors that he would wait until the convention later this month to throw his support behind Clinton, Sanders explained to a cheering crowd, “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.”
Many in his legion of followers must have been stunned by his strong announcement to back Clinton after he had feuded with her, denounced her and refused to concede to her long after it was numerically impossible for him to win.
“Secretary Clinton has won the Democratic nomination,” he continued, “and I congratulate her for that.”
Clinton was equally ebullient by Sanders’ change of heart. “We are joining forces to defeat Donald Trump,” Clinton forcefully stated. “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.”
A week ago, Clinton was standing shoulder to shoulder with President Obama, a man she had fought tooth and nail in 2008. Now, she was embracing Sanders after their knock-down, drag-out campaign.
It took both of them a few minutes to warm to the occasion after they walked out on stage together. But soon Sanders was into his fiery element that the nation had witnessed so much over the past several months as he praised Clinton. “I intend to do everything I can to make certain she will be the next president of the United States,” Sanders declared.
That Clinton and Sanders have finally come together took weeks of haggling over how to merge their platforms, and Sanders, already having won a few concessions from Clinton on the platform committee, apparently got what he wanted to announce his endorsement.
Trump, frequently on Twitter, tweeted, “I am somewhat surprised that Bernie Sanders was not true to himself and his supporters. They are not happy that he is selling out.”
Selling out is something that should not be alien to Trump, and this announcement is clearly not the last surprise he’s going to get as Clinton and Sanders combine their voices and energy to derail his march to the White House.
Clearly, Sanders did not consider himself a sellout, telling the crowd that the platform committee “has come up with the most progressive platform in the Party’s history.” In a word, Sanders was the victor, having pulled Clinton and the Democratic Party to the left.
A key factor in bringing Sanders to the table may have been Clinton’s minimal adoption of some of his pet programs, including her rejection of Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership or the TPP trade agreement, her agreement to fight for a higher minimum wage and her commitment to push for debt free college for families making less than $125,000 a year.
Even so, there are countless Sanders backers who feel that have been taken for a ride, though they should not be naïve in the world of politics. And nothing is more terrifying to Democrats—if the not the majority of Americans—than the possibility of Trump as commander-in-chief of the nation.
Clinton doesn’t need all of the votes Sanders can deliver; in fact, she was doing all right without him, though her lead over Trump has decreased since the deadly gun violence in Louisiana, Minnesota and particularly in Dallas. Trump, asserting that he is the law and order candidate, is doing all he can to take advantage of the tragedies, much in the same way he tried to use the terrorist attack in Orlando to his own advantage.
Many Americans, still reeling from the shooting death of five cops and the fatal attacks by the police on young Black men in Minnesota and Louisiana, worry that the nation is already spiraling toward Trumpville. Clinton and Sanders intend to stop that spiral.