As Joe Biden continues to court an endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the former vice president is indicating there is potential for more common ground on issues like student debt, climate change and healthcare.
Axios is reporting representatives for Biden and Sanders will meet in the next few weeks. It said a source disclosed that there is an expectation that Biden will include some portions of Sanders’ agenda in his presidential campaign.
Sanders, calling Biden a “very decent man,” ended his presidential campaign on Wednesday, making Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee. But he did not offer an explicit endorsement of his former rival.
Axios said the trick will now be to see how much Sanders can push Biden in his direction to satisfy supporters before endorsing him.
The website noted there is no chance Biden will adopt Medicare for All, but could move in Sanders’ direction on issues like healthcare and climate change. He has already moved toward Sanders on making college free.
And Axios questioned whether Sanders will also demand specific language in the Democratic Party’s platform on progressive issues like the Green New Deal.
An unnamed senior Democrat told Axios: “What I worry is, it’s going to be 'Medicare for All,' 'Green New Deal,' they’ll say 'We have to have these things in there.’ But it's really just a negotiation; they want to pull Biden as far as they can."