Biden, Sanders Reach Agreement To Let Sanders Keep Hundreds Of Delegates In A Bid For Unity

In a move that signals that the 2020 Democratic primary will not have the acrimony of 2016, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden reached an agreement with Bernie Sanders to let the runner-up keep hundreds of delegates he would have otherwise lost thanks to DNC rules around candidates who drop out of the race.

In a joint memo issued by Biden for President and Friends of Bernie Sanders, the two candidates agreed that “While Senator Sanders is no longer actively seeking the nomination, the Biden campaign feels strongly that it is in the best interest of the party and the effort to defeat Donald Trump in November to come to an agreement regarding these issues that will ensure representation of Sanders supporters and delegate candidates, both on the floor and in committees. We must defeat Donald Trump this fall, and we believe that this agreement will help bring the party together to get Trump out of the White House and not only rebuild America, but transform it.”

As far as the race for the nomination is concerned, delegate counts are mostly irrelevant. Biden is the only candidate currently running and he is virtually guaranteed to reach the 1,991 delegate threshold needed to clinch the nomination. However, the party platform that endorses various policies they hope to accomplish during their presidency will be crafted by the delegates at the convention, and more delegates for Sanders means more influence over that process.

The press release makes it clear that the campaigns are trying to avoid a repeat of the contentious 2016 primary, where the vitriol between the Clinton and Sanders camps came to be the defining feature of the race. This demonstrates how far the party has come in four years, as the establishment represented by Biden is far more deferential to the progressive wing than the Clinton camp was.

Had all of the 2016 Green Party vote gone to the Democrats in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Hillary Clinton would be president right now, demonstrating how this olive branch offered by the Biden camp is a big part of their strategy to win the presidency in November.

The Sanders and Biden camps continued, saying that “Our campaigns are grateful for the unity and spirit of collaboration within the Democratic Party as we look to defeat Donald Trump and establish a government by and for the American people. We look forward to working with the state parties to implement this approach, as we elect delegates who reflect and represent the diversity that is the unique strength of our great nation.”