The Final Call

Senator Sanders is out of presidential race; where does that leave the progressive platform?

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Former Vice President Joe Biden (left) was recently endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders after conceding his Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election. (R) Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Photo: Haroon Rajaee

“If I believed we had a feasible path to the nomination, I would certainly continue the campaign,” Sen. Sanders said in an all-staff conference call. “But it’s just not there. I congratulate Joe Biden, a very decent man, who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward.” He made the announcement April 8.

The Vermont senator said the progressive movement has taken “a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice.” His staunchest allies support his decision.

“Today, our movement faces a setback,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said after news broke that Mr. Sanders was dropping out of the White House race. “But every single setback is an opportunity to push for progress.

“We always knew it would not happen overnight. But I know our cause is just. And for those of you who plan to sit this election out or vote for Trump, just stop. The livelihoods of millions of marginalized people are at stake. We must all fight like hell to get Donald Trump out of the White House and end the rise of fascism in this country,” Rep. Omar continued.

“What we’re looking for is beyond just removing Trump,” Chokwe Antar Lumumba, mayor of Jackson, Miss., and another staunch Sanders supporter said in an interview. “I think that the removal of Trump is certainly important and critical. But I share with people in Mississippi that when we were asked how did we feel about the election of Trump, that Wednesday after he was elected we woke up in Mississippi. That means no matter whether the country is supposedly experiencing economic prosperity or recession, we don’t feel it because we’re still at the bottom.”

Sen. Sanders said his campaign was not just a political quest, but a movement, arguing that it has already won the ideological struggle. “A majority of the American people now understand that we must raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, that we must guarantee health care as a right,” he told supporters. “It was not long ago that people considered these ideas radical.”

Even as he stepped back, the senator claimed he made progress.

“I find it ironic that he is stepping out when some of his proposals such as universal health care, are needed now more than ever,” Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of History and African Studies at the University of Houston, said in an interview. “Obviously it does not bode well, particularly for his opponent, Vice President Biden.”

“It’s common to say now that the Sanders campaign failed,” Professor Noam Chomsky told “Democracy Now!” “I think that’s a mistake. I think it was an extraordinary success, completely shifted the arena of debate and discussion. Issues that were unthinkable a couple years ago are now right in the middle of attention.

“If Trump is reelected, it’s an indescribable disaster. It means that the policies of the past four years, which have been extremely destructive to the American population, to the world, will be continued and probably accelerated. What this is going to mean for health is bad enough. I just mentioned the Lancet figures. It will get worse. What this means for the environment or the threat of nuclear war, which no one is talking about but is extremely serious, is indescribable,” he said.

“Yes. We believe that Donald Trump is a bigot,” said Mayor Lumumba. “We don’t need the 1000th confirmation of who he is. The question is who are we? And what are we asking for our people?”

Instead, Mayor Lumumba and a coalition of Black Southern mayors believe that going forward, Mr. Biden owes the Black community: “Everything. Everything. And this is what myself, along with some of my colleagues, predicted. We authored a letter that was the Southern cities agenda, early on in the process, where we outlined issues that were important to us and our communities,” he said of his collaboration with Mayors Latoya Cantrell of New Orleans; Randall Woodfin of Birmingham; and Steve Benjamin of Columbia, S.C.

But the ease with which Mr. Biden won commanding majorities of Black voters suggests that the Black Agenda will not be a high priority for the Democratic campaign in 2020. “Well, I’m afraid to say that it’s more likely that he’ll take Black voters for granted,” said Dr. Horne.

“I think that that does not bode well for Senator Biden’s delivery. I think this opens the question. There is so much anti-Black feeling, I’m afraid to say in the United States of America, that absent some sort of global threat, it’s going to be very difficult to meet the fundamental demands of the Black community, which right now would include a special health care provision,” Dr. Horne concluded.

But, in case Mr. Biden is elected, Prof. Chomsky continued, “I would anticipate it would be essentially a continuation of Obama—nothing very great, but at least not totally destructive, and opportunities for an organized public to change what is being done, to impose pressures.”