Bernie Sanders continues the fight for his “political revolution”

Bernie Sanders will keep fighting. The Democratic hopeful to the White House is not dropping out of the race. Instead, he has reiterated his goal to take his platform to the Democratic National Convention and “work to defeat Donald Trump.” There is no way for Sanders to win the nomination at the convention but he insists on defending the values his campaign stood for in order to “transform” the Democratic Party.

Election days come and go. But political and social revolutions that attempt to transform our society never end Bernie Sanders

“Election days come and go. But political and social revolutions that attempt to transform our society never end,” he said to his supporters in a speech titled “The Revolution Continues.” Sanders compared the popular movement that has supported his campaign to the civil, women’s, and gay rights movements.

The Vermont senator explained the three main goals of his revolution. First, he wants “to make certain that Donald Trump is defeated.” Sanders told supporters that the United States does not “need a major party candidate who makes bigotry the cornerstone of his campaign. We cannot have a president who insults Mexicans and Latinos, Muslims, women and African Americans.”

His second goal is to revolutionize his own party. “I look forward, in the coming weeks, to continued discussions between the two campaigns to make certain that your voices are heard and that the Democratic Party passes the most progressive platform in its history and that Democrats actually fight for that agenda.”

And, lastly, Sanders wants to encourage his voters to get involved in local and state politics in order to keep government from falling into the hands of the conservative right. “Defeating Donald Trump cannot be our only goal.”

Sanders wants to encourage his voters to get involved in local and state politics in order to keep government from falling into the hands of the conservative right

There is growing pressure for Sanders to exit the race, especially since his opponent Hillary Clinton won enough delegates to clinch the nomination. Yet the Vermont senator remains steadfast and has not backed his party’s likely nominee – even after President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren publicly endorsed her.

The Sanders campaign has exceeded all expectations over the last year. Its progressive proposals forced Clinton to lean further left than expected. As he said in his latest speech, he put inequality, poverty and campaign funding – topics that are usually given less focus than foreign policy or tax laws – at the center of the debate.

Sanders explained why he believes his campaign “is not some kind of fringe idea” and why he wants to continue fighting until July: more than 12 million votes, more than half a million people attended his events and more than eight million contributed donations that averaged $27 apiece.

“In virtually every state that we contested we won the overwhelming majority of the votes of people 45 years of age or younger,” Sanders said. “These are the people who are the future of this country.” Sanders wants to fight on their behalf to make sure that Clinton defends some of the policies they voted for in the primaries.

Even though Clinton won 34 contests and surpassed Sanders by 3.7 million votes, his ideas have the backing of 12 million voters

Even though the former secretary of state won 34 contests and surpassed Sanders by 3.7 million votes, his ideas have the backing of 12 million voters. He has shown that he is determined to defend them at the convention. His proposals include election law reform to curb the influence of the rich, regulations on Wall Street, more social assistance programs, a plan to reduce childhood poverty and inequality, gun control and immigration reform.

Sanders’ strategy is unusual. The primary race usually ends when one candidate reaches the necessary number of delegates to seize the nomination. Sanders, who has the backing of 48 superdelegates, is still standing, even though Clinton has secured the support of almost 600 superdelegates.

English version by Dyane Jean François.