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Bernie Sanders joins Hillary Clinton's rally

Nearly a month after the last Democratic primary, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont)has officially endorsed Hillary Clinton, his one-time rival and the party’s presumptive nominee, for president.

"Secretary Clinton has won the democratic nominating process and I congratulate her for that. She will be the democratic nominee for the president and I intend to do everything i can to make certain she will be the next president of the United States," he said joining Clinton in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he trounced her in the first primary of the season.

Clinton had already won the Iowa Caucuses. Its location is reminiscent of 2008, when then-Senator Clinton (D-New York) conceded the Democratic nomination to Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) at a rally in Unity, New Hampshire.



 

Sanders began his remarks by thanking the people who voted for him, especially in New Hampshire, where he received his first victory, and in Vermont, his home state. He also thanked those who volunteered for his campaign and the 2.5 million people who donated “small, individual contributions.”

"Together we will continue to fight for a government which reps all of us and not just the 1%"  Sander said.

Sanders has been under intense pressure to bow out of the Democratic race for president, but he has bided his time and forced both the party platform and Clinton herself to move to the left on issues important to the Vermont senator.

The Democratic platform, unveiled July 1, shows substantial influence from Sanders. "Millionaires and billionaires" are targeted in a call to implement a "multimillionaire surtax" and the phrase "starvation wage" appears in the party's condemnation of the current minimum wage, saying it "must be increased to a living wage."

The platform does not, however, oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Sanders lamented on Twitter. Additionally, there is no mention of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, another issue close to Sanders' campaign and supporters.

Last Wednesday, Clinton also moved left, adopting a major plank of Sanders’ campaign by proposing a plan to eliminate college tuition at public universities for families earning under $125,000 a year. Free college was a central issue for Sanders.

Sanders praised Clinton for moving closer to his platform, saying that such a plan would have a “profound” impact on the US.

Clinton has also announced a proposal to expand access to health care, another issue important to Sanders.
The two campaigns had been working together over the past month to bring the candidates closer together on issues and make the endorsement happen.

“The most progressive platform in Democratic Party history adopted over the weekend by the Platform Committee is one result,” Michael Briggs, Sanders’ spokesman, told USA Today. “The millions of supporters of Senator Sanders deserve credit and should be proud that their energy and enthusiasm has yielded these solid results."

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