Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign and Sen. Bernie Sanders' senior leadership have crafted a ceasefire in the ideological warfare that has dominated the Democratic Party, and its emboldened left wing, for the past five years.
The episode repeated itself like clockwork during the Democratic primary: Bernie Sanders' staff, and sometimes the candidate himself, would telegraph -- often in the lead-up to a debate night -- a hot new round of attacks on former Vice President Joe Biden.
Then, just as surely, Sanders would pull up short. "Joe is a friend of mine," he would offer as a caveat,"and a decent guy," before going on to lament Biden's voting record or prospects in the general election. Nearly two months after the primary effectively ended, Biden's campaign and Sanders' senior leadership have successfully crafted a ceasefire in the ideological warfare that has dominated the Democratic Party, and its emboldened left wing, for the past five years. Deep and abiding divisions on major issues make the peace a tenuous one, but the personal bond between Sanders and Biden, set against the party's evolving power dynamics and a country veering from crisis to crisis under President Donald Trump, has set the stage for Democrats to enter the general election this fall with a unity of purpose they lacked in 2016.View 2020 presidential election pollingRead MoreThe détente is being quietly shepherded by Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir and top Biden aides Anita Dunn and Ron Klain. Shakir and Dunn, who ruffled Bernieworld when she compared Sanders' performance to that of a"protester" after his and Biden's final debate, speak regularly. And in an interview last week, Shakir praised her for setting a"tone and tenor" in private conversations that encouraged the relationship."They're operating with the best of intent. Now that doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get all the outcomes that you want," Shakir said."Obviously we have to see where the outputs are in terms of these task forces , but we're operating with full reality, understanding that we're not going to get everything we want."'It's been encouraging'In May, the campaigns announced the creation of six policy-focused"unity" task forces and charged them with hashing out recommendations for Biden and the party to consider and potentially add to the platform. The meetings began this month, remotely via tools like Zoom, and the groups are expected to present their work to Biden by the end of June, Shakir said.Participants have been mostly tight-lipped about the details of the conversations, but Varshini Prakash, the executive director of the Sunrise Movement and member of the climate task force co-chaired by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, tweeted out a video last week describing herself as"cautiously optimistic" after two meetings."I've also seen the Biden folks bringing a lot," Prakash said, after praising Ocasio-Cortez and environmental justice activist Catherine Flowers."Rep. McEachin from Virginia has been bringing a ton of ideas for how to do bottom-up policy making where we listen first and craft policy out of what communities need. Gina McCarthy has been stressing the importance of timelines and urgency -- that the benefits of this transition need to get to people today and by tomorrow, not by 2050. So, it's been encouraging."That progressive leaders, some more accustomed to occupying lawmakers' offices than sitting across from them at a virtual conference table, have chosen private negotiations over public spats is both a marker of the movement's success and a testament to Biden's unique political talent. Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersUS Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Chicago in March 2019. Sanders, an independent from Vermont, is the longest-serving independent in the history of Congress.Hide Caption 1 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders, right, leads a sit-in organized by the Congress of Racial Equality in 1962. The demonstration was staged to oppose housing segregation at the University of Chicago. It was Chicago's first civil rights sit-in.Hide Caption 2 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders takes the oath of office to become the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in 1981. He ran as an independent and won the race by 10 votes.Hide Caption 3 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders, right, tosses a baseball before a minor-league game in Vermont in 1984. US Sen. Patrick Leahy, center, was also on hand.Hide Caption 4 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersIn 1987, Sanders and a group of Vermont musicians recorded a spoken-word folk album."We Shall Overcome" was first released as a cassette that sold about 600 copies. When Sanders entered the US presidential race in 2015, the album surged in online sales. But at a CNN town hall, Sanders said,"It's the worst album ever recorded."Hide Caption 5 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders reads mail at his campaign office in Burlington in 1990. He was running for the US House of Representatives after an unsuccessful bid in 1988.Hide Caption 6 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersIn 1990, Sanders defeated US Rep. Peter Smith in the race for Vermont's lone House seat. He won by 16 percentage points.Hide Caption 7 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders sits next to President Bill Clinton in 1993 before the Congressional Progressive Caucus held a meeting at the White House. Sanders co-founded the caucus in 1991 and served as its first chairman.Hide Caption 8 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersBarack Obama, then a US senator, endorses Sanders' Senate bid at a rally in Burlington in 2006.Hide Caption 9 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders takes part in a swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol in January 2007. He won his Senate seat with 65% of the vote.Hide Caption 10 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders chats with Dr. John Matthew, director of The Health Center in Plainfield, Vermont, in May 2007. Sanders was in Plainfield to celebrate a new source of federal funding for The Health Center.Hide Caption 11 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders speaks to reporters in 2010 about the Obama administration's push to extend Bush-era tax cuts. Three days later, Sanders held a filibuster against the reinstatement of the tax cuts. His speech, which lasted more than eight hours, was published in book form in 2011. It is called"The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class."Hide Caption 12 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders and US Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, walk to a news conference on Capitol Hill in 2014. Sanders was chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.Hide Caption 13 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersIn March 2015, Sanders speaks in front of letters and petitions asking Congress to reject proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare.Hide Caption 14 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersIn July 2015, two months after announcing he would be seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for President, Sanders spoke to nearly 10,000 supporters in Madison, Wisconsin."Tonight we have made a little bit of history," he said."You may know that some 25 candidates are running for President of the United States, but tonight we have more people at a meeting for a candidate for President of the United States than any other candidate has."Hide Caption 15 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSeconds after Sanders took the stage for a campaign rally in August 2015, a dozen protesters from Seattle's Black Lives Matter chapter jumped barricades and grabbed the microphone from the senator. Holding a banner that said"Smash Racism," two of the protesters -- Marissa Johnson, left, and Mara Jacqueline Willaford -- began to address the crowd.Hide Caption 16 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders shakes hands with Hillary Clinton at a Democratic debate in Las Vegas in October 2015. The hand shake came after Sanders' take on the Clinton email scandal."Let me say something that may not be great politics, but the secretary is right -- and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about the damn emails," Sanders said."Enough of the emails, let's talk about the real issues facing the United States of America."Hide Caption 17 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders embraces Remaz Abdelgader, a Muslim student, during an October 2015 event at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Asked what he would do about Islamophobia in the United States, Sanders said he was determined to fight racism and"build a nation in which we all stand together as one people."Hide Caption 18 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders waves while walking in a Veterans Day parade in Lebanon, New Hampshire, in November 2015.Hide Caption 19 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders sits with rapper and activist Killer Mike at the Busy Bee Cafe in Atlanta in November 2015. That evening, Killer Mike introduced Sanders at a campaign event in the city."I'm talking about a revolutionary," the rapper told supporters."In my heart of hearts, I truly believe that Sen. Bernie Sanders is the right man to lead this country."Hide Caption 20 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersComedian Larry David and Sanders appear together on"Saturday Night Live" in February 2016. David had played Sanders in a series of sketches throughout the campaign season.Hide Caption 21 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders and his wife, Jane, wave to the crowd during a primary night rally in Concord, New Hampshire, in February 2016. Sanders defeated Clinton in the New Hampshire primary with 60% of the vote, becoming the first Jewish candidate to win a presidential primary.Hide Caption 22 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders speaks at a campaign rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in March 2016. He won the state's primary the next day, an upset that delivered a sharp blow to Clinton's hopes of quickly securing the nomination.Hide Caption 23 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders speaks at a campaign event in New York's Washington Square Park in April 2016.Hide Caption 24 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders speaks at a rally in Santa Monica, California, in June 2016. He pledged to stay in the Democratic race even though Clinton secured the delegates she needed to become the presumptive nominee.Hide Caption 25 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders endorses Clinton at a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in July 2016.Hide Caption 26 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders addresses delegates on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in July 2016.Hide Caption 27 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders brings a giant printout of one of Donald Trump's tweets to a Senate debate in January 2017. In the tweet, Trump had promised not to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.Hide Caption 28 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders thanks supporters after winning re-election to the Senate in November 2018.Hide Caption 29 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders looks at his notes as he watches President Trump deliver the State of the Union address in February 2019. That month, Sanders announced that he would be running for president again.Hide Caption 30 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders hugs a young supporter during a campaign rally in Los Angeles in March 2019.Hide Caption 31 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders addresses the audience at a CNN town hall in Washington in April 2019.Hide Caption 32 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders speaks next to former Vice President Joe Biden at the first Democratic debates in June 2019.Hide Caption 33 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders raises his fist as he holds a rally in Santa Monica, California, in July 2019.Hide Caption 34 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders grabs the hand of US Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the Democratic debates in Detroit in July 2019.Hide Caption 35 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders campaigns at the University of New Hampshire in September 2019. A few days later, he took himself off the campaign trail after doctors treated a blockage in one of his arteries. Sanders suffered a heart attack, his campaign confirmed.Hide Caption 36 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersUS Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduces Sanders at a New York rally after endorsing him for president in October 2019.Hide Caption 37 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersIn a tense and dramatic exchange moments after a Democratic debate, Warren accused Sanders of calling her a liar on national television. Sanders responded that it was Warren who called him a liar. Earlier in the debate, the two disagreed on whether Sanders told Warren, during a private dinner in 2018, that he didn't believe a woman could win the presidency.Hide Caption 38 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders laughs during a primary-night rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, in February 2020. Sanders won the primary, just as he did in 2016.Hide Caption 39 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersA triumphant Sanders raises his fist in San Antonio after he was projected to win the Nevada caucuses.Hide Caption 40 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders and former Vice President Joe Biden talk before a Democratic debate in Charleston, South Carolina, in February 2020.Hide Caption 41 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in March 2020.Hide Caption 42 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersSanders speaks to reporters in Burlington, Vermont, a day after Super Tuesday II. Sanders said it"was not a good night for our campaign from a delegate point of view" but that he looked forward to staying in the race and taking on Joe Biden in an upcoming debate.Hide Caption 43 of 44 Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie SandersBiden greets Sanders with an elbow bump before the start of a debate in Washington in March 2020. They went with an elbow bump instead of a handshake because of the coronavirus pandemic.Hide Caption 44 of 44A number of Sanders aides were quick to note, as they have in the past, that Biden was one of the few Democratic establishment figures to connect with Sanders back when the democratic socialist from Vermont was still perceived as a Capitol Hill curiosity, an eccentric on the margins of the mainstream."Very few people in the Senate went out of their way to say, 'Hey Bernie, how you doing?' I'm not saying they went out for beers every Friday, but Biden made an effort to build a relationship of Bernie, to reach out to him, that made an impact on Bernie," said Sanders campaign pollster Ben Tulchin. Tulchin described himself as a"leading advocate" during the primary for Sanders to more aggressively"make the contrast" with Biden on the trail and in debates. "Bernie consistently was reluctant to do it," he said."In part because he had a rapport with Biden. He would do it, but he never liked doing it. He didn't want to do it."Another former aide to Sanders, who worked closely with him on both campaigns, remembered that the relationship extended beyond the Senate, where they only briefly overlapped, through Biden's years in the White House. That included conversations during the 2016 primary, when the two would occasionally talk on the phone at a time when most establishment figures were steering clear.But other Sanders allies believe the stories of the pair's personal affinity are either overblown or overestimated in the current context. What's changed, they argue, is simple: Sanders has a robust political base and his signature policies, like"Medicare for All," are popular."I think a lot of people might turn to talking about who these two people are, what kind of relationship they have, all that kind of stuff. I think none of that matters," said Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants."That's all sort of nuance, sure, but it doesn't really matter. The significant difference here is that Bernie Sanders has way more power in 2020 than he had in 2016."From 2016 to 2020Going back to 2015, during Sanders' first presidential bid, his top advisers saw in Biden a potential competitor -- had he decided to run -- whose"strong connection with working-class voters," as 2016 campaign manager and former senior adviser Jeff Weaver wrote in his 2018 book,"could have created competition for rank-and-file labor votes."Biden's opting to stay out of the race wasn't a surprise, Weaver wrote, as he recalled watching the vice president make that decision official in a Rose Garden speech, President Barack Obama at his side, in October 2015. Listening to Biden's remarks during lunch at a Washington bar that day with Tad Devine, a top consultant to Sanders in 2016, Weaver was struck by Biden's messaging."He decried income inequality, called for free college tuition, criticized the political establishment, and on and on," Weaver wrote."Tad looked at me and said, 'Holy sh*t! That's our message. That's what we're running on.' Indeed it was." Nearly five years later, after Sanders came up short a second time, Weaver and other former aides announced in April the formation of a new super PAC dedicated to growing support for Biden with Sanders' diverse young base of progressive voters. "In 2016, I think those of us who thought Trump could win still thought that he would lose. That obviously turned out not to be the case," Weaver told CNN on Friday, adding he expected the 2020 race would, similarly, be decided on the margins. He also offered an assessment shared across much of Bernieworld: that Biden was more malleable, on policy particulars, than many on the left appreciated.Weaver's successor as campaign manager, Shakir, argued the same -- that Biden, hardly an ideologue, had room to maneuver as he worked to grow his coalition. "Biden, in the manner in which he campaigned and who he is, has left a lot of room for policy development. He did not campaign on a robust policy platform," Shakir said."That's not how he won."Before Weaver left the Sanders campaign to launch his new group, he and Shakir were dispatched by Sanders -- who was still in the race -- as emissaries to the Biden camp. "When Bernie was talking about suspending the campaign, he hadn't made his decision, he asked me and Jeff at the time to go and start conversations with Biden's crew to figure out how much progress we could make," Shakir said."And I said , 'OK, what are your chief objectives here?' He said, 'It's very simple, We need progressive policies and progressive personnel adopted by Joe Biden.'"The conversations that followed ultimately yielded the task forces and the kind of working relationship that Sanders and Clinton, despite some successful efforts to find compromise positions on issues like higher education, never achieved."This is all set against 2016, where I think that Hillary's campaign was not interested in Bernie's input and had a chip on its shoulder," a top Sanders aide said."In this case, that's never been the attitude at any point or juncture."A former Clinton aide from 2016 conceded that Biden has been more successful in bringing along Sanders and his allies, pointing to the public rollout of the working groups, but said there had been"genuine efforts" on Clinton's behalf"to do everything in our power to squash the dynamic that had grown during the primary.""The Biden people went about it in a really smart way. But we tried to do that stuff in 2016 and their total resistance to playing ball just bred more and more resentment from both sides," the former Clinton aide said."And at a certain point, the feeling was, 'You don't get to set all the terms. The people voted for her agenda and not your agenda.'"In a statement, Biden spokesman Andrew Bates touted the former rivals' relationship and praised Sanders and his campaign for their work."Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are friends and share a steadfast belief that we need a government that will deliver for working families," Bates said."Sen. Sanders and his team have been extraordinary partners in offering advice and support on the biggest challenges of our day, such as overcoming climate change and rebuilding the American middle class -- especially after the COVID-19 outbreak."Sanders aides and allies are reluctant, still, to concede any role in Clinton's defeat. But in interviews for this story, they almost unanimously cited, in a list alongside the candidates' personal ties and the coronavirus crisis,"the lessons of 2016" -- as Tulchin put it -- as a key factor in the shaping relations this time around.The fruits of the task forces, and whether Biden and his team decide to embrace them, will also go a long in way in setting an expiration date on this era of good feelings. Sanders and his inner circle are clearly committed to seeing it out, at least through the election. But the activist leaders now at the table with Biden's campaign have more complicated questions to answer -- their efforts potentially coming at the cost of credibility within their movements.Nelson, the union leader, is a co-chair of the economic task force, said her decision to take part was simple: Sanders asked and"you never say no to being at the table.""Look at the people who have been appointed to these committees," she said."What you see is the bringing together of the most diverse group of Democrats that you've seen in any other space. And that is Bernie's coalition. He talked about building a new Democratic coalition and I think the task forces, whether you look at Bernie or Biden appointees, reflect that." Karthik Ganapathy, a progressive strategist and Sanders aide in 2016, credited the Biden campaign for having the humility to openly engage and try to win over a bloc of voters -- young progressives -- that they struggled with during the primary. Still, he warned, there are murky waters up ahead. "Are going to bring on key progressive staff? Are they going to make key commitments to the Sunrise Movement and to AOC and other folks on that task force?" Ganapathy said."Those decisions will show me if they're seriously interested in building an on-ramp for Bernie folks to get on the train."
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