Bernie Sanders to campaign for Joe Biden in Pittsburgh

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is visiting Pittsburgh on Saturday to campaign for former Vice President Joe Biden, the man who defeated him for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Political experts said Sanders’ visit is designed to energize young and progressive Democrats.

“This is a calculated move to energize the base of the Democratic Party and to reach out to younger voters … (who) are notoriously absent when it comes to voting,” said Joe DiSarro, a political science professor at Washington & Jefferson College.

G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College, added, “(Democrats are) obviously going to use him in a specialized way, particularly with progressive Democrats in the cities.”

Biden at times in the campaign has tried to distance himself from Sanders and the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party, refuting claims by President Trump that they will force the more moderate Biden to move far left politically should he be elected.

During Thursday night’s presidential debate, Trump was critical of Biden’s plan to push for a health care plan with a public option and said Sanders had unsuccessfully tried to implement such a plan in his home state of Vermont. Biden responded, “(Trump) thinks he’s running against somebody else. He’s running against Joe Biden. I beat all those other people because I disagree with them.”

Sanders’ Pittsburgh visit will begin with a get-out-the-vote event with state Rep. Jake Wheatley starting at 11:30 a.m. on the CCAC campus on Pittsburgh’s North Side. In the afternoon, Sanders will be joined by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and state Reps. Sara Innamorato and Summer Lee for a drive-in car rally at the Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Rankin at 3:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania, a key swing state that Trump won by just 44,000 votes in 2016, has been a hotbed of campaign activity this year with visits from both presidential candidates, their running mates and surrogates campaigning on their behalf.

“Pennsylvania has had more visits by the presidential candidates and their surrogates than any other state,” Madonna said.

DiSarro and Madonna aren’t convinced a visit from Sanders will have a major impact on Pennsylvania voters as a whole, but he could be key to getting young and progressive Democrats to turn out to the polls.

“Is it important for him to come? Sure. Is his activity going to determine whether Biden wins or not? The answer’s no. But you want his support, particularly among progressive Democrats,” Madonna said.