Bernie Sanders gives Clinton enthusiastic endorsement

Bernie Sanders gave Hillary Clinton a beaming enthusiastic endorsement Tuesday. He had fought her so hard for long many in the crowd probably wondered how sincere it would be.

​He said she would make "an outstanding president."

It was all smiles as he worked a rope line.

“Secretary Clinton has won the Democratic nominating process,” Mr. Sanders said, as cheers erupted and Mrs. Clinton broke into a wide smile. “And I congratulate her for that. She will be the Democratic nominee for president, and I intend to do everything I can to make certain that she will be the next president of the United States.”

“I have come here to make it as clear as possible why I am endorsing Hillary Clinton and why she must become our next president,” the New York Times said.

The candidates hugged tightly.

Sanders stood behind showing his support when she indicated a brutal campaign was about to begin. Only time will tell how much campaigning he will do for her but for the moment he was demonstrating his support.

A Pew Report poll from last week said 85 percent of Sanders clan would vote for Clinton. Sanders has missed no opportunity to denounce Republican Donald Trump. The idea that Sanders people would stay home or even vote for him appears to be a mirage.

Both Clinton and Sanders have called Trump a racist, unqualified, a warmonger, an expert at using U.S. tax laws to enrich himself at the expense of people who lose their jobs.

“You can put lipstick on a pig but it is still a pig,” Clinton, in the Trump style.

The Clinton-Sanders team is likely to get at least a temporary boost in the polls, which she leads by an average of six points.

Other news organizations use similar language, avoiding stating flatly that the endorsement would occur.

However, it was a win-win for both sides. Clinton was gaining more endorsements, and Sanders had won several platform battles at meetings preceding the Philadelphia convention in July, meaning his campaign was not a waste of time.

Many Sanders’ supporters have taken to the Internet to express their disgust with a Clinton endorsement, and declare they will never vote for her.

Only time will tell how effective Sanders can be on the campaign trail for Clinton, and how far he is willing to go. Few of his supporters are likely to vote for Donald Trump.

Clinton has led in most polls, usually by five or six points, sometimes more. However, the impact on the campaign of recent violence, including deaths of police and civilian, is unknown.

As usual, Trump says the problem is easily solved with a hammer. Clinton says divisions in the country must be healed.

The FBI failure to indict Clinton for using a private email service, just as her predecessors had, has left a stain on the campaign. But 60 percent of those polled by the Washington Post said the issue would not decide their vote.

The next hot issue is going to be who is selected by each candidate as the vice presidential candidate.

Trump doesn’t have the campaign money or solid support from people of his party that Clinton does. Years of attacks on her, since her husband was president, may make it hard to gain momentum for a businessman with no government experience.

And he has his own share of scandals.

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