Image by Joe Raedle via Getty
A Democratic National Committee organizer tells Broadly that Senator Bernie Sanders is set to meet Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire next Tuesday to discuss his endorsement for her presidential bid. This news on the heels of Sanders being booed in a closed-door session with House Democrats who booed Sanders on earlier this week when he evaded questions about suspending his presidential campaign.Sanders has continued to campaign throughout the primaries despite not possessing enough delegates to clinch the nomination. Many have accused him of dividing the party, especially when Donald Trump looms on the horizon, as orange and gaseous as the sun.Though he has stated on record that he would work with Clinton to ensure that Trump doesn't win the election, Sanders has still refused to endorse her. Political analyst Adriel Hampton says this is all part of Sanders' campaign."Once [Sanders] formally drops out he loses some of the influence over the platform," Hampton said in an email. "Endorsing Clinton before the convention certainly seems like it will drain some of the energy from his delegates."Hampton himself volunteered with Sanders' grassroots campaign and donated to the campaign. He says that Sanders has the funding to continue campaigning. His grassroots base, Hampton said, encouraged him to stay in the race by covering the campaign's operating costs for a very clear reason."The Sanders campaign is very issue-based, reform-based. So even if the math was looking bad for an actual primary win, staying in to push those issues, [like] universal health care, anti-fracking, makes sense," Hampton said. "His base of progressive small-dollar donors— the largest in history—has skin in the game as long as he and his delegates have influence. And he has more influence as a candidate than a surrogate."If Sanders does finally endorse Clinton next week, then it's expected that he will instruct his 1,831 delegates to cast their votes for her at the National Democratic Convention in Philadelphia on July 28.
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