Even outside of the race, Sanders pushed Democrats left, analysts say

US Senator Bernie Sanders announced Wednesday morning that he is out of the Democratic nomination in the presidential race for the White House in November.

“While I see the crisis dominating the country,” Sanders told his followers in an online broadcast from his home in Burlington, Vermont, “I cannot, in good conscience, continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and would interfere with the important work required. ” from all of us at this difficult time. “

Even so, in the opinion of analysts, Sanders can already be considered one of the biggest winners of the 2020 electoral process: the movement led by him, self-declared socialist, managed not only to change the political agenda of the Democratic Party, putting issues related to the program on the social table: how to innovate in the form of campaign fundraising, demonstrating that it is feasible to bet on low and individual donations, instead of large sums of companies.

Amid the coronavirus epidemic in the United States, which has already infected 400,000 people in the country and could cost between 100,000 and 240,000 lives according to official estimates, Sanders’ main proposal to create a universal and public system of Health for Americans, it doesn’t sound so radical anymore.

With the support of Republican President Donald Trump, Congress passed measures for the state to fund testing for people suspected of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.

After criticizing measures to expand the public health system, such as the so-called Obamacare, Trump said on November 2 that he was considering expanding such programs because he considered the situation of the 30 million Americans without health insurance to be “unfair.”

Additionally, with a historic unemployment rate, caused by the pandemic-receding recession, the United States extended unemployment insurance benefits and suspended collection of student debt, two issues on which Sanders helped build strong social support.

‘Avenged’ crisis sanders

The expressiveness of its electoral base is evident in the campaign’s collection figures: it was almost US $ 180 million, distributed among hundreds of thousands of donors, since the average contribution was around US $ 20 per person.

“The current crisis has avenged Bernie Sanders. He has led a shift to the left within the Democratic Party, especially in matters of health, student debt and climate change,” political scientist Michael Cornfield of George Washington University told BBC News Brazil .

Three weeks ago, former candidate Joe Biden, a former Obama vice president and now a virtual Democratic presidential candidate to challenge Trump, made it clear that the Vermont senator’s demands will be addressed in his government program.

In a message to Sanders voters, he went beyond the party union’s usual preaching to defeat Trump and said, “I am listening to you. I know what is at stake. I know what we have to do.”

And, in mentioning income inequality and climate change, he said: “(Me and Sanders) may disagree with the tactics, but we share a common vision.”

“What Sanders did is extraordinary. From a politician who was nationally unknown 8 years ago, he led Democrats to a more progressive and leftist position than anyone could have imagined. These effects have profoundly altered the identity of the party and will not disappear. ” “Political scientist Thomas Whalen of Boston University told BBC News Brazil.

Without helping Trump – again

Despite the postponement of primaries in more than a dozen states, the current distribution of Democratic delegates has made it clear for weeks that Sanders’ chances of obtaining the party nomination were remote.

It is the second time that Democrats overlook Sanders. In 2016, he ran with Hillary Clinton and, on that occasion, was accused of dividing the party and facilitating Donald Trump’s victory against the Democratic candidate.

Four years ago, Sanders did not even officially suspend his campaign and waited until mid-July to formalize his support for Hillary.

At the time, emails from members of the Democratic party were leaked and indicated that the title worked against Sanders’ candidacy. Many of his supporters have stopped going to the polls in retaliation against the Democrats.

In the current dispute, the tension between the socialist candidate and the traditional Democratic core has intensified again. Moderate party members accused supporters of the Vermont politician of working not for the legend, but for the figure of Sanders. And they viewed with suspicion the possibility that they would then work for any other Democratic candidate.

“Sanders’ big mistake was tactical: having gained leadership while his opposition in 2020 was fragmented, he attacked the Democratic establishment, which responded by quickly consolidating Biden’s candidacy,” says Cornfield.

The situation became clearer with the suspension of campaigns by moderates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, who offered support to Biden just before Super Tuesday, March 4, when large states, such as California and Texas, named their favorite name. . With that, the Democrats managed to guarantee an expressive victory for Biden.

In practice, that result pushed Sanders out of the way, but the Democrats needed him to spontaneously drop out of the race, so he wouldn’t bleed the party out again.

It happened on Wednesday, more than 3 months before the Democratic Convention. “Sanders did not want to go down in history as someone who helped Donald Trump get his second term,” says Whalen.

With the decision, Democrats will have time to build a solid foundation around Biden. And to try to convince the followers of Sanders to embark on this effort.

The dispute is tough, and Democrats need all the votes they can muster: Trump today has the approval of more than half of Americans.

Sanders must maintain an influential position in the legend. Political analysts say that if Biden wins, he is expected to form the presidential cabinet.

“In any case, he will be what he already is: the leader of an expressive social movement, which must always be consulted and respected by the party,” says Cornfield.

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