Bernie laid out what it would take for him to actually endorse Hillary (when he loses the nomination officially).
Bernie Sanders Lays Out His Requirements For Endorsing Hillary Clinton
Some of the highlights:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) insisted he’ll stay in the presidential race, but outlined conditions under which he would endorse Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton “if I can’t make it.”
Typically, when you lose you congratulate your opponent and endorse, then work on a platform together, as partners.
Sanders, who badly trails Clinton in delegates for the Democratic nomination, said Wednesday that his chief priorities include making sure the party embraces his anti-establishment platform and expands its base.
Party voters are currently deciding who they want as the nominee, and that includes voting on that candidate’s agenda.
Sanders also listed policy demands he would make of Clinton, including a single-payer health care system, a $15 an hour minimum wage, tougher regulation of the finance industry, closing corporate tax loopholes and “a vigorous effort to address climate change.”
Some of these are easy, as Hillary has advocated for them for a long time as well, and before Bernie showed up. Closing corporate taxholes. Cool. Regulating finance industry. Sure. Climate change. Obviously. But Bernie’s $15 minimum wage? Hillary is advocating for $12 nationally, more regionally as needed in more expensive area, BUT all of it tied to inflation, so the minimum wage keeps growing every year as inflation takes place. Hers is the better solution. With Bernie's we have to revisit the same thing again in 10 years. Either way, the voters are deciding on that as well.
Bernie made a mistake going public with this list of demands “if I can’t make it”, because he really needs to understand that the voters are deciding on the nominee and with that the agenda of that nominee. Bernie will have the stature to be part of the platform building process, and the two agree on a lot already, but demanding on a TV show what basically makes up Bernie’s major platform planks or else he might not endorse made no sense in the context of trying to build a partnership and get both sides united in the end.