Sen. Bernard Sanders is hosting a “Fighting for a Living Wage” virtual rally featuring Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala D. Harris Thursday to rally grassroots activists behind her presidential running mate Joseph R. Biden and down-ballot Democrats, and advocate raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Mr. Sanders is defying the naysayers who questioned whether he would follow through on his promise to do whatever he can to help Mr. Biden oust President Trump after falling short of winning the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
The virtual event with Ms. Harris also is set to feature SEIU President Mary Kay Henry; Ai-Jen Poo, senior adviser for Care in Action; and Lorman Laird, a nursing home worker in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Sanders has now hosted more than a dozen virtual town halls on behalf of Mr. Biden and Democrats. The senator from Vermont also has traveled to New Hampshire. Michigan and Pennsylvania to urge people to vote.
It could be a good omen for Democrats and signals the party is more unified than it was following the 2016 presidential primary.
DNC emails leaked before the Democratic National Convention that year showed some party officials favored Hillary Clinton over Mr. Sanders — infuriating his supporters, sparking protests and convincing some to stay home on Election Day.
Some of that bad blood lingered during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Some voters said they were “Bernie or Bust” and that candidates such as Mr. Biden embodied the establishment that they abhorred.
Intent on avoiding the intraparty acrimony that hurt Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Biden, and Mr. Sanders linked arms toward the tail-end of the primary and worked to present a unified front.
They formed policy task forces earlier this year composed of their allies that offered up recommendations to combat climate change, battle institutional racism and expand health care.
The recommendations, however, didn’t include policies that have energized progressive liberals: the Green New Deal and “Medicare for All.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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