Bernie Sanders promised a live speech on YouTube for his supporters earlier today, obviously fueling the idea that he’d finally be dropping out of the presidential race. That did not happen, but it does seem like Sanders is attempting to pivot his campaign into something more meaningful heading into Philadelphia’s Democratic National Convention. The sentiment put forth in this speech shows that there’s still quite a gap between Clinton and Sanders on a lot of issues, but he’s willing to help out his rival while also urging change at the state and local level:
In every single state that we contested we took on virtually the entire political establishment – U.S. senators, members of Congress, governors, mayors, state legislators and local party leaders. To those relatively few elected officials who had the courage to stand with us, I say thank you. We must continue working together into the future.
This campaign has never been about any single candidate. It is always about transforming America.
After showing his appreciation to supporters, Sanders’ lays out what his campaign still stands for despite no chance of winning the actual election. The current Sanders campaign is not about winning the race, but instead is about forcing his party to keep leaning left and not forget the people most feel the party is supposed to represent. He also lays out his other goal, which is a shared goal between himself, Clinton, and the Democratic party:
This campaign is about defeating Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president. After centuries of racism, sexism and discrimination of all forms in our country we do not need a major party candidate who makes bigotry the cornerstone of his campaign. We cannot have a president who insults Mexicans and Latinos, Muslims, women and African-Americans. We cannot have a president who, in the midst of so much income and wealth inequality, wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the very rich. We cannot have a president who, despite all of the scientific evidence, believes that climate change is a hoax.
The major political task that we face in the next five months is to make certain that Donald Trump is defeated and defeated badly. And I personally intend to begin my role in that process in a very short period of time.
You can take in the full speech below, even if you’re still clueless on why he’s still “in the race.” It might not matter in the end, but he’s dedicated to ensuring his message at least makes it to the national stage.
(Via Vox / Bernie Sanders)