Sanders has stopped knocking Joe Biden…
Biden has talked to Bernie Sanders…
Sanders is no longer running campaigns ….
As a US Senator…He’s talking about the virus…
His campaign no longer asking for campaign money from the public…
It’s over….
Some Democrats said that instead of Sanders remaining a candidate, he could assert his influence by securing an agreement from the Biden campaign to adopt some of his positions before pulling out. Already, Biden has embraced a Sanders plan to make public colleges and universities tuition-free for students whose families make less than $125,000.
And Biden extended an olive branch to Sanders supporters in a Tuesday speech: “Let me say, especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders, I hear you. I know what’s at stake,” Biden said as the results came in. “I know what we have to do.”
Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), who endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in the primary, said bringing together the two wings of the Democratic Party would require careful choreography. He said Biden’s recent announcement that he’d select a woman as his running mate, and endorsing Warren’s recommended overhaul of bankruptcy rules, were a good start.
But Levin said he was disappointed that Biden told progressives that he knew what needed to be done. “That’s not it,” Levin said. “This is work that needs to be done to bring people together.” Levin added that he wanted Biden to “back away from” attacks on Medicare-for-all and frame it at least as a goal.
The Biden and Sanders camps, representing the final two major candidates in the race, opened lines of communication some time ago. Before the last Democratic debate, Anita Dunn and Jeff Weaver, senior advisers to Biden and Sanders, respectively, discussed the arrangements, according to a person with knowledge of the talks. This person also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. The pair decided not to have an audience and discussed how the stage would be set up.
The coronavirus outbreak has given the campaigns an area for negotiation that encompasses many of the fights Sanders cares most passionately about — providing health care to more Americans, reducing economic inequality and curbing the power of wealthy corporations.
Still, many Sanders supporters are distrustful of Biden, citing his history of working with Republicans. They have been unimpressed by his coronavirus response, favoring the more dramatic measures Sanders has advocated. Some Sanders supporters signaled that they are beginning to accept the reality of Biden’s likely victory.
Alan Minsky, executive director of the pro-Sanders group Progressive Democrats of America, said Biden has a history of “not coming down on the progressive side of the party.” Still, he added, “Biden is a savvy politician, so it’s not hopeless to think that he might really shift his approach.”….
image…new4jax.com