Bernie Sanders has spent his political life as an Independent, and he has refused all overtures from the Democratic Party in Vermont. In 2016, he ran in the Democratic presidential primary while continuing to insist that he is not a Democrat.
But the Democratic Party made a little rules change for the 2020 primaries and caucuses. Only members of the party can run. This posed a dilemma for Sanders. He wanted to use the Democratic Party apparatus to run for president, but he also wanted to refuse party membership. What was he to do?
Well, we found out a few days ago. He signed the Democratic Party's candidate pledge (see above) which was sent to all the candidates. BY signing that pledge, he affirmed that he was a member of the Democratic Party and would run and serve as a Democrat.
Should we celebrate Sanders joining the Democratic Party? NO! I don't for even a minute believe Sanders is now a Democrat. All we have to do is look at the other race he's in for 2020 -- re-election as a senator in Vermont. He's not running as a Democrat (which he would be doing if he had actually joined the party), but as an Independent (just like he's always done).
All he has shown is that he's willing to lie to get what he wants (to get on the November ballot as a presidential candidate). Do we really want to replace one liar with another?
