Influencing Clinton

Sanders vows to go all the way, but signals a new focus on influencing Clinton

By Daniel Strauss

Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed Tuesday night to go all the way to the Democratic National Convention this summer despite losing four of five contests in the April 26 primaries.

But he signaled that his focus would shift from winning the nomination — an all-but-impossible task given Hillary Clinton's nearly insurmountable delegate lead — to influencing the platform of the Democratic Party.

In a statement issued after Clinton sealed wins in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania while losing Rhode Island, Sanders congratulated Clinton on her victories and said he looked forward to "issue-oriented campaigns in the 14 contests to come."

"The people in every state in this country should have the right to determine who they want as president and what the agenda of the Democratic Party should be," he said. "That's why we are in this race until the last vote is cast."

"That is why this campaign is going to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia with as many delegates as possible to fight for a progressive party platform that calls for a $15 an hour minimum wage, an end to our disastrous trade policies, a Medicare-for-all health care system, breaking up Wall Street financial institutions, ending fracking in our country, making public colleges and universities tuition free and passing a carbon tax so we can effectively address the planetary crisis of climate change," he continued.

The statement follows a pair of conflicting messages members of Sanders' team gave earlier in the day. His chief strategist, Tad Devine told the New York Times that the campaign might reassess its path forward if the Vermont senator lost dramatically in the five primary states on Tuesday. Later in the day, the senator's wife Jane denied that any kind of reassessment would be on the horizon.

"No, no. We assess on an everyday basis," she said on MSNBC.

But Sanders has been hinting recently that his goal is now to secure Clinton's support for his policies rather than to defeat her at the ballot box.

In an interview Sunday with NBC's Chuck Todd, Sanders said he would "do everything that I can to make certain that Donald Trump is not elected president."

But he said that it would be Clinton's responsibility, not his, "to convince all people, not just supporters, that she is the kind of president this country needs to represent working people in this country, to take on the big money interests who have so much power, to fight for what the American people want."

Asked how Clinton could do that, Sanders said she would have to be "very explicit about supporting a program which stands up for the needs of the middle class and working families, which, most importantly, makes it clear that she is prepared to take on Wall Street in a very clear way, take on the billionaire class, come up with a program that makes health care for all in this country a right within the next several years."