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Sanders, Biden Camps Reach Compromise With New Policy Recommendations

This article is more than 3 years old.
Updated Jul 8, 2020, 05:22pm EDT

TOPLINE

As the Democratic Party strives to unite its moderate and progressive wings ahead of the November general election, presumptive nominee Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders released policy recommendations from their joint “Unity Task Force” Wednesday, which unites the two candidates’ views in a blueprint for what the Democratic party platform should look like in November.

KEY FACTS

The 110-page document outlines key policy proposals on climate change, criminal justice reform, the economy, education, health care and immigration, and offers draft language for Democrats to consider as they create the party’s official platform for the November election.

The comprehensive policy recommendations, crafted by the Unity Task Force that the two candidates announced in May to bring together their differing views, often veer further left than Biden’s views during the primary but do not openly embrace Sanders’s progressive proposals.

The proposal retains Biden’s plan for a public health care option within the Affordable Care Act and does not acknowledge Sanders’s “Medicare for All” plan, and an ambitious climate change plan—developed by a coalition led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Secretary of State John Kerry—stops short of progressives’ “Green New Deal.”

The task force recommendations also address the current moment, offering policies to tackle the crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic and proposing policies like “reining in” qualified immunity, ending cash bail and decriminalizing marijuana in response to the current racial justice movement.

Sanders acknowledged in a statement that the document is “not what I or my supporters would have written alone,” but described the recommendations as “a good policy blueprint that will move this country in a much-needed progressive direction.”

The united policy recommendations came out soon after the New York Times reported new polling showing that an overwhelming majority of Sanders voters in battleground states back Biden over President Donald Trump—87%, compared with 4% for Trump—easing fears after a reported 12% of Sanders voters cast a ballot for Trump in 2016.

Crucial Quote

“I commend the Task Forces for their service and helping build a bold, transformative platform for our party and for our country,” Biden said in a statement about the recommendations. “And I am deeply grateful to Senator Sanders for working together to unite our party, and deliver real, lasting change for generations to come.”

Key Background

The differing ideologies within the Democratic Party have emerged as one of the biggest issues the party has had to reckon with ahead of the general election, as Biden has sought to reach progressive Sanders voters who believe the former vice president’s policies are overly moderate. Unlike in the 2016 election, in which Sanders stayed in the race against Hillary Clinton and was slower to officially endorse her candidacy, Sanders suspended his campaign in April and quickly endorsed Biden, actively working with the presumptive nominee to support his candidacy against Trump. Biden has tried to appeal to Sanders voters since unofficially grabbing the nomination, announcing policy positions that moved further to the left even prior to the task force recommendations. Despite his and Sanders’s efforts, however, some progressive activists still remain wary of Biden’s candidacy. “If I am to accept him as being a transformative leader, then I need to see evidence of his own transformation, and I haven’t,” LaTosha Brown, head of the civil rights group Black Voters Matter, told the Washington Post.

Further Reading

Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force Recommendations (Joe Biden Campaign)

Democratic task forces send Biden a progressive policy roadmap (NBC News)

How United Are Democrats? A 96-0 Data Point Offers a Hint (The New York Times)

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