On Wednesday, Bernie Sanders officially ended his second run for the presidency. Despite his significant popularity on social media (particularly with younger generations), he was far behind former Vice President Joe Biden in number of delegates. Sanders is the last of the 27 Democratic candidates to drop out of the race.
Impact of the Coronavirus
Like almost everything else happening at the moment, Sanders’s decision was primarily impacted by the coronavirus. The pandemic had led to delays in primary contests, put the nominating convention on hold, and made in-person campaigning impossible.
A tipping point, however, was condemnation that the Wisconsin primary even went ahead. On April 7, voters turned out in face masks to cast their ballots, despite health warnings to stay at home.
Sanders Will Remain on the Ballot
Although he’s dropping out of the presidential race, Sanders will remain on the ballot for the rest of the primaries. This will help him win more delegates and ultimately give him more influence in the Democratic Party.
Anyone who has been watching the primary results will be unsurprised to hear that Sanders has dropped out. Although he started his campaign strong, he quickly began faring worse than in 2016. By the time he dropped out, it had already been largely accepted that he was unelectable, due to a lack of support in the Democratic Party beyond his base of core supporters.
