Bernie Sanders endorses Biden, forgoes another presidential run

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont officially endorsed President Joe Biden for reelection Tuesday, making clear that another presidential run wasn’t in the cards during an interview with The Associated Press. 

The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a woman’s right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia. So, I’m in to do what I can to make sure that the president is reelected.

There is a weird strain of people who want to see Biden challenged, or have him engage in debates with the fringe castoffs currently pretending to run for president. Whether you are a Biden fan or not (and quite frankly, he’s had a shockingly successful presidency thus far), there is nothing like the incumbency advantage of a sitting president. Incumbents almost never lose. Given the stakes in this election and the fact that Donald Trump is most likely the Republican nominee, you would have to be crazy to surrender that advantage. 

Not to mention that when people talk about wanting “someone else” in polling, that someone else is an idealized notion of what each individual person wants. There isn’t an alternative candidate out there, with Biden standing in the way of perfection. Slap a name on that alternative, and suddenly Biden is back on top. Remember, that’s how he won the nomination in 2020. 

Sanders’ decision to bow out early is a relief, ending tedious and damaging speculation that would serve no other purpose than to undermine our Democratic nominee.