Bernie Sanders drops out of the race
US Democrat Bernie Sanders has withdrawn from the Democratic race for the US presidency, leaving Joe Biden to run against President Donald Trump in November. But the media see Sanders' mission and ideas as more relevant than ever.
Sanders' ideas more relevant than ever
The pandemic will show the US how far-sighted the demands of the failed candidate were, says The Independent:
“It is all so cruelly ironic, of course, because the other thing coronavirus has made obvious is how sensible a policy Medicare-for-All would be. The US's fractured healthcare system, where hospitals are competitors and data-sharing is discouraged, has cracked under the pressure. ... Sanders saw all this coming before it was a disaster, but few were willing to listen. ... It's clear that today Biden won the battle. But it's equally possible that in the long term, Bernie Sanders and everything he believes in will end up winning the war.”
Time for a new generation of politicians
Even after Sanders has left the race his supporters will exert growing influence, Novaya Gazeta believes:
“So Biden now holds all the cards. Will he prove he is worthy of the trust of at least a half of all Americans - or will he turn out to be the 'sleepy Joe' the incumbent president is making fun of? ... But Bernie remains a driver for change because his supporters have gained considerable clout in the Democratic Party in recent years. No doubt the modernisation of the 'Blues' will continue. Sanders may be leaving big politics, but in doing so he is - after Merkel - sending a signal to the other 70 to 80-year-old heads of state around the world: 'Folks, isn't it perhaps time to make way for the young?'”
Workers and black voters back Biden
De Standaard explains why Sanders didn't win the primairies despite his huge popularity:
“The fact that other candidates adopted his issues and put forward similar proposals proves that Sanders' campaign had a lot of influence. Sanders has no qualms about calling himself a democratic socialist, but for many Americans this is a dirty word. ... After a strong start, it became clear during the primaries that he could not extend his very loyal following to a wider section of the party. When Sanders lost the Michigan primary, it was clear that he couldn't win in an industrial area. Similarly, blacks voters also didn't vote for him, and instead voted overwhelmingly for Obama's number two, Joe Biden.”