How long will Bernie Sanders remain a thorn in Hillary Clinton's side?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/09/bernie-sanders-thorn-in-hillary-clintons-side

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The only thing more awkward than Bernie Sanders’ visit to Washington DC today is the position he’s putting his Democratic colleagues in.

After his bruising string of losses on Tuesday in California, New Jersey and even little old South Dakota, Clinton’s historic nomination became inevitable, but Sanders refused to throw in the towel. Instead, he requested a string of meetings with the very establishment he’s railed against on the stump: from the Super Pac-aligned Barack Obama to Democratic puppet master Harry Reid.

To make matters worse for Sanders, moments before he went into the Senate minority leader Reid’s ornate Capitol office on Thursday, President Obama formally endorsed Clinton in a video announcement. Ouch.

As the two men awkwardly sat for a photo-op, the throng of assembled reporters tried to get into the mind of Sanders, they were scolded by Reid. “We’re not going to take questions, OK?” Reid intoned. “OK you guys, we’re not going to take any questions. That’s not the deal that I made”.

The open secret is that everyone knows Sanders campaign is finished. Well, everyone besides his most ardent supporters and, seemingly, the senator himself. “I will of course, be competing in the DC primary which will be held next Tuesday,” Sanders told reporters at the White House after meeting with the president.

If you listened close enough you could hear the Democrat party collectively sigh. Sanders’ colleagues across the Capitol have been quietly – and some more vocally – nudging him towards the exit after he promised his supporters this week to keep twisting the arms of superdelegates and to take his long shot bid all the way to the convention floor in Philadelphia next month.

“I think he should stand down now, that’s my conclusion,” Senator Bill Nelson told me and other reporters at the Capitol this week. “I believe that he is uniquely positioned to be able to be a unifier and that is so important when you consider that the November election is a study in contrast.”

And Sanders’ first congressional supporter, Congressman Raul Grijalva, has spent the week scratching his head. He’s now prepared to back Clinton because the math isn’t on Sanders’ side any more. When I asked him what Sanders hopes to gain by sticking it out until the convention, Grijalva took a deep breath and sighed: “I’m not quite sure. Honestly.”

The problem for the Democratic party is that this was, arguably, Hillary Clinton’s best week in the campaign, as she locked up the support to make her the first female nominee for a major party in history. It was also, arguably, the worst week for Donald Trump, as he was basically labeled a racist by the House speaker, Paul Ryan.

Yet here we are discussing Bernie Sanders, who has been a thorn in the side of the party’s establishment since he tore into their Super Pacs, supporters from Wall Street and sued the Democratic National Committee. And things were even uglier just this week.

While Clinton was declaring victory on Tuesday night, chants of “bullshit” washed over the crowd waiting for Sanders at his packed Santa Monica event. When Sanders mentioned Clinton in his speech, a chorus of boos erupted in the audience. And earlier in the day a handful of Sanders supporters allegedly harassed reporters who were writing about Clinton reaching the magical number to clinch the nomination.

That’s sending shivers through the Democratic party establishment. Instead of redirecting the anger in his base, Sanders has been stoking the fire by staying in the race. Now they’re all waiting to see what concessions Sanders is demanding inside all of his closed-door meetings.

Does he want to craft the party’s platform (he’s already represented on the platform committee)? Or to get the vice-president nod (not going to happen)? Or maybe a promise to stop taking Wall Street donations (in his dreams)? Only time will tell what his demands are, but the longer he holds the party to ransom, the more he risks angering his colleagues and alienating his supporters from Clinton.

The best news for Democrats this week may be that Mom and Dad are talking again. On Tuesday, the two primary opponents did chat on the phone together. Sanders is promising it won’t be the last time.

“I look forward to meeting with her in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump and to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1%,” Sanders told reporters at the White House. The question on Democrats’ minds is, when will he start helping them in their collective fight, instead of stealing the limelight from Hillary Clinton.