Why should anyone be surprised that Bernie Sanders has received no endorsement from Democrats? As of now, he is still registered as an Independent and has not indicated that he would register as a Democrat should he fortunate enough to win the nomination.
I like Mr. Sanders, especially some of his positions. However, I find it somewhat disingenuous that he has harshly criticized the Democratic Party in the past, and now has suddenly decided to seek it's presidential nomination.
There's been a lot of chatter about the number of endorsements that Mrs. Clinton has received, and a lot of commenters have expressed concern that Mr. Sanders hasn't earned even one. This got me thinking about why that is the case. Clearly, Bernie and Hillary agree on most of the issues. And, on other issues, it's just a matter of how they are best resolved (e.g., Hillary supports free community college and reducing tuition for low-income students at public universities, Bernie advocates tuition-free education at public universities as well as community colleges).
So, what must be the reason that all current endorsements have gone to Hillary? For starters, I wondered about Bernie's history with the Democratic Party. I wondered if he'd ever campaigned for a Democrat in the past, or if he even attended a Democratic Convention. I also wondered if he had ever expended any political capital in support of a Democrat or if he has ever contributed to the Party Platform. In my research, I could not a single instance where Mr. Sanders actively campaigned for a Democrat in the past, attended any Party Conventions or had any input to the Party Platform.
On the other hand, there is a long history of Mrs. Clinton endorsing other Democrats, actively campaigning for many other Democrats (including President Obama after he won the nomination and then served in his administration), contributed to the Party Platform, and has been to every Party Convention since at least the 1980's.
Whatever one thinks of Mrs. Clinton, she has been loyal to her party and has stuck her neck out for many fellow Democrats. Again, I could not find a single instance of Bernie doing any remotely the same thing. If I'm a Democratic Delegate or Super Delegate, party loyalty would be a huge factor in my decision to endorse a candidate. I suspect if Biden had declared his candidacy early on, he would likely have won some of those endorsements.
I am fully aware of Bernie supporting the civil rights movement and even marching in the past. As a Black American, I very much appreciate that. But, the civil rights movement was (and still is) issue-based, and not at all about party loyalty. Indeed, the civil rights movement crossed party lines. So, if Bernie has not been loyal to the Democratic Party at any time in the past, we should not be surprised that he doesn't have any endorsements.
This article (https://www.google.com/...) offers a detailed account of Bernie's history with the Democratic Party, which has been pretty rocky to say the least. So, given the choice to endorse a known Democrat versus someone who has never been a registered Democrat (and has not attended even one convention), it should be easy to understand why Mrs. Clinton has as so many endorsements.
It seems Bernie has tried do the same thing when he ran to get the Democratic nomination for Governor of Vermont and lost. Now, he's seeking the nomination for President. I don't doubt Bernie's "ideological purity", however, I'm guessing that Democrats feel that he is being opportunistic.
I can appreciate the feeling of not wanting to readily support someone who has 1) never been in the trenches with your party when it counts; 2) never formally affiliated with your party; and 3) at times harshly criticized and actively campaigned against your party. When you consider the above context, it's a no-brainer as to who should get the coveted endorsements.
In reviewing several primary polls, I see a consistent source of support for Bernie. That is, Mr. Sanders appears to have consistent support from Independents, young voters (including blacks, whites and latinos), and white liberals. All other groups consistently support Mrs. Clinton. Based on the above context, it kind of makes sense.
In my opinion, based on the way the nominating process is designed, Mr. Sanders will not win the nomination. Rather, it is far more likely that Mrs. Clinton will get the endorsement of most (if not all) of the remaing Delegates and Super Delegates. Candidates cannot win the nomination without a sufficient number of endorsements since they come with actual delegates.
Therefore, with a process that assigns a proportion of delegates to primary winners and losers, Mr. Sanders simply cannot win without a sufficient number of endorsements. And, it seems he is also unlikely to add to his apparent coalition of voters based on polling trends.
4:56 PM PT: I seem to have sparked some passionate responses to my post. Some have even taken personal shots at me. This is fine, I won't take offense to any of it.
To be clear, I am not a supporter of neither Mr. Sanders nor Mrs. Clinton. That said, I support many positions of both candidates and would be happy with either as the presidential nominee, frankly.
The goal of my diary was simply to explore why so many endorsements have already gone to Mrs. Clinton, even before a single primary vote (or caucus) has been cast. I think it's because Hillary has been quite helpful to a lot of democrats over the years in the ways that I mentioned in my original diary.
I made sure not to cast judgement on anyone. However, I did try to speculate on what the so-called Delegates and Super Delegates might be thinking when it comes to giving their endorsement to someone. That's it!
This diary was not about how spineless some democrats are when it comes to stating their positions on issues, or what should actually happen during the nominating process. Clearly, if I had my druthers, democrats would be much more forceful in demanding a single-payer healthcare system, reenacting the glass-steagall bill, free public education through college (public universities), and others. Bernie is for all of these. Also, ideally, endorsements shouldn't be given out until at least a few primaries have taken place. This would allow folks to have some idea of actual voter preference. But, I think we can all agree that none of this is going to happen. It seems clear that Delegates and Super Delegates prefer a registered democrat (I'm betting that Biden would some endorsements immediately upon declaring his candidacy). I'm sure Mr. Sanders is soliciting endorsements as he understands the criteria for achieving the nomination. In any case, the Democratic Party should be better off thanks to Bernie's efforts even if he doesn't win. Regardless, I'm glad that neither candidate (super pacs notwithstanding) has taken personal shots at each other (although the same is not true for some of their supporters). Therefore, assuming the winner is determined fairly, it should be easy the the supporters to come together for the general election.