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Sanders’ campaign has stopped actively advertising on Facebook and its campaign manager sent an email to supporters without asking for donations — the kind of steps that other candidates have taken before ending their campaigns. Sanders’ aides said he is not suspending his campaign at this point, even as some Democrats have become increasingly vocal that he should consider leaving the race.
But the campaign is now facing a new series of political realities as it weighs its path forward. After commanding victories in Florida, Illinois and Arizona on Tuesday, Joe Biden has amassed a nearly insurmountable delegate lead and needs only about 800 more to win the nomination outright.
Some Democrats said that with the outlook so bleak, and with a deadly pandemic gripping an anxious nation, Sanders risks looking self-centered and out of step with an insistence on pressing ahead.
“Bernie is getting beat by 30 and 40 points, it’s over,” said Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, who has endorsed Biden. “This is the adult thing to do — knowing when it is time to disappear.”
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Sanders reacted testily Wednesday when asked about his plans, suggesting his sole focus should be on the virus.
“I’m dealing with a fucking global crisis,” he said, addressing reporters at the capitol. “You know, we’re dealing dealing with it and you’re asking me these questions.”
“Right now, I’m trying to do my best to make sure that we don’t have an economic meltdown and that people don’t die,” he added. “Is that enough for you to keep me busy for today?”
Some Democrats said Sanders had already succeeded in promoting his liberal policy agenda, and warned that staying in the race could damage the coalition he has built since 2015.
John Verdejo, a DNC member from North Carolina, said that with people focused on simply staying alive along with protecting their family, Sanders “risks eroding any goodwill and the great work he has done to bring the party to where it is now due to his efforts.”
Yet Sanders and his allies point out that 26 states, territories and Washington, have yet to hold primaries and caucuses. There are still 1,399 delegates left to award — and with the primary essentially on hold because of public health concerns, it could be several months before Biden accumulates enough to secure the nomination (if no other primaries are postponed, the earliest he could clinch would be May 5 with Indiana).
Even among Democrats who view Biden’s eventual triumph as inevitable, there is a belief that contested primaries are good for the party, making some of them reluctant to call for Sanders to withdraw. In Wisconsin, Democratic officials worry that if Sanders drops out before the state’s planned April 7 primary, it could dampen his supporters’ enthusiasm, depress turnout and hurt progressive candidates for state and local offices.
Officials close to Biden say they are keenly sensitive to not being perceived as pushing Sanders too hard — although that is what some of them want to do. In a series of staff and surrogate calls over the past week, Biden aides have increasingly pressed for an approach in which Biden begins to ignore Sanders altogether and instead tries to turn the race into a binary contest between himself and Trump, according to people familiar with the campaign’s strategy.
But Biden’s campaign also understands it is operating from a position of strength. On Wednesday, it sent a memo that declared an “increasingly clear” path to the nomination and saying the 2020 primary race “is nowhere near as close as the 2008 and 2016 Democratic primaries.”
Advisers to Sanders have begun to make peace with the fact that he will in all likelihood lose the nomination to Biden. But they also see no real downside in sticking it out, pointing to the uncertainty surrounding the primaries because of the coronavirus.
Sanders also views the coronavirus crisis as a moment when the progressive agenda he has championed for years is especially vital, and he is eager to leverage his influence for good at a time when issues like health care and economic inequity are so resonant, some allies say.
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And top advisers see potential for him to continue to shape the narrative around how the country should be responding to the crisis and are holding out hope that they can harness existing virtual infrastructure to allow him to get his message out and keep his supporters engaged — a tacit admission that the campaign is no longer trying to win.
One aide, for instance, said there have been regular discussions in the past several days about programming that the campaign can put together to help working families who may be stuck at home, including programming for children to occupy them during the day.
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Whether he stays in the race is a decision that ultimately rests with Sanders and his wife, but some of his aides and supporters see no real downside in sticking it out, at least in the short term. Many recognize that he staying in the race allows him to wield political influence as he continues to fight for the soul of the Democratic Party — and that he is singularly focused on keeping his political movement alive.
And after years of being excluded from what he sees as the party’s establishment clique, he is also still determined to show that he is a superior candidate to Biden, whom he views as the establishment’s choice, some close to him say. On the debate stage Sunday, he delivered pointed attacks on Biden’s record on issues including Social Security, bankruptcy and women’s reproductive rights in a way that vexed Biden supporters and left some Democrats wondering aloud if he was concerned about weakening the presumptive nominee in the general election against President Donald Trump.
Sanders, however, has insisted he thinks Biden can beat Trump, rebuffing a question from a reporter recently about whether criticizing the former vice president could compromise him in November. None of his aides have indicated they are worried that staying in the race will divide the party in a way that benefits Trump.
Democratic officials, mindful of the bitter end to the 2016 primary, are also wary of being seen as pushing Sanders to suspend his campaign.
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But discussions in recent days with more than 40 Democratic National Committee members and members of Congress found a clear majority believed he should get out of the presidential race now — with some warning that staying in could damage the progressive coalition he has built since 2015.
Some suggested Sanders should declare a moral victory — Democrats have moved broadly toward his progressive policy platform since he began his first presidential campaign — and throw his support to Biden.
“It’s time to throw in the towel knowing that he has won the battle of issues,” said Wilbur Colom, a DNC member from Mississippi. “The Democratic Party has moved within inches of his revolution on all major issues. We all are feeling the Bern.”
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Former President Barack Obama, who is close to Biden, has grown increasingly anxious over the difficulties of incorporating the Sanders wing of the party into the Biden coalition, should his former vice president prevail, according to former aides and associates. But he has made it clear he will wait for the Vermont senator to approach him before playing a larger role, one former aide said.
Even Sanders supporters who concede he has little chance to win say contesting the 27 contests left will allow fellow progressives to win delegate slots at the national convention, which would provide leverage when it comes to shaping the party’s platform and writing rules for the next presidential nominating contest.
“Bernie is not running a campaign so much as leading a movement,” said Winston Apple, a DNC member from Missouri. “He will be a more effective leader for our movement if he remains in contention throughout the process.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times .