<
blockquote>Bernie Sanders will drop out if Joe Biden wins a plurality. It won’t be hard for Biden to get the plurality. The momentum is with him. It’s as if Bernie conceded already. By sending that message, he is sending some of his supporters to Biden.
Sanders made the remarks during an appearance on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show Wednesday night.
Watch:
The senator stayed in the race against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 despite having fewer delegates but said that a rules change after that election cycle makes the situation different this time. If he is left with fewer delegates than Biden at the end of this primary season, he plans to bow out of the race, insisting that using superdelegates to decide the nomination would be a mistake.
“If Biden walks into the convention, or at the end of the process, [and] has more votes than me, he’s the winner,” said Sanders, before confirming he would concede whether the lead was a majority or a plurality.
He did say Biden should leave if he, Sanders, won the plurality, so he does have to stick to it. But, what happens if he gets 45 delegates and Biden gets 46 and the votes are close?
“I think it would be a real, real disaster for the Democratic party,” said Sanders. “People would say ‘the person who won the most votes didn’t get selected.’ Not a good idea.”
New Rules:
New DNC rules were established in 2016 after super delegates stole Bernie’s chances to win.
Democratic convention rules allowed superdelegates to vote on the first ballot, which is no longer the case in 2020. Instead, a candidate who has a majority of at least 1,991 delegates would automatically win on the first ballot. However, if a candidate only had a plurality of votes, a second ballot could potentially be decided by superdelegates.
It could lead to a brokered convention and Bernie doesn’t want that.
NO UNITY TICKETS
Sanders told host Rachel Maddow that his campaign had a “real path towards victory.” But, after the Super Tuesday disappointments, that might not be the case.
One scenario that Sanders did rule out was the possibility of running on a “unity ticket” with Biden, who he called “a friend” despite significant policy differences.
“One old white guy is probably one too many for some,” Sanders said. “I think we need a little bit more diversity than that.”
Bernie’s only goal is to push the party towards communism. Whether he wins or not takes second place to that.
Subscribe to the Daily Newsletter
wpDiscuz
