Why Did Tulsi Gabbard Endorse Biden and Not Bernie?

[TomCADem]

Tulsi Gabbard endorsed Bernie Sanders back in 2016. She is listed as a fellow of Bernie's private foundation, and is still prominently featured on their website:

https://www.sandersinstitute.com/about/gabbard

Also, in terms of rhetoric, Tulsi has been far more outspoken in attacking the "Democratic Establishment," then Bernie Sanders. Indeed, during debates, Tulsi would often take a lead role in attacking Bernie's rivals. So, why didn't Tulsi drop out earlier and endorse Bernie Sanders? What happened between Tulsi and Bernie?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Gabbard wants to be re-elected. She needs Biden's coattails, not Bernie's.

[TwilightZone]

3. She's not running for reelection.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/25/politics/tulsi-gabbard-wont-run-for-house-seat-2020/index.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Then she's just a realist who doesn't want to be caught backing the wrong horse.

It's embarrassing.

[TwilightZone]

9. I think it makes sense.

Like most of the rest of us, she knows that the race is over and the best way forward is to back our nominee. There wouldn't be any point in endorsing Sanders now.

[thesquanderer]

34. I think the reason is probably exactly what she said it was in her video.

It's posted in the OP at https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287677657 and It's worth watching from 1:40 to 4:00 -- all your questions will be answered.

Remember also that Gabbard had Biden's back a couple of times in the debates.

[ucrdem]

35. "I'm confident that he will lead our country guided by the spirit of aloha"

You have to admit she has a way with words!

[sop]

16. Rubio didn't run for re-election in '16, saying he wanted to concentrate on his presidential bid.

Gabbard said the same thing last September. Then Rubio dropped out, endorsed Trump, changed his mind and ran for his Senate seat again. I suspect Tulsi will do the same now.

[Cha]

18. Well she can run all she wants but we already

have an excellent state senator running for Hawaii District 2 name of Kai Kahele.. he was already out funding Gabbard Before she dropped out.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Cha]

17. No.. that's a good reason, though, if she hadn't

told us last year, I think it was, that she's Quitting Congress! YAY!

[Cha]

19. Maybe she will change her mind.. she'll be running against Kai Kahele

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[TwilightZone]

2. She's a realist.

Like most of us, she understands that the race is over and we need to get behind our nominee.

[FM123]

4. Maybe she hopes to be his veep?

[SCantiGOP]

6. Hah!

I am assuming that you meant that as a joke

[FM123]

13. Kinda, but not really.

Since so many of us here are calling for Val Demings (my fav) or Kamala Harris as veep I was taken by surprise when a Bernie supporter posted today that if Tulsi were to be named veep, he would immediately change his support from Bernie to Biden. It never occurred to me that Tulsi would even be a consideration at all....

[agincourt]

7. It does seem strange,

maybe Biden is the part of the establishment that she likes. I had a lot of hopes for her but she seemed like an empty suit at times. Just repeating the same stuff over and over without going into any depth.

[George II]

10. "The Establishment" does not exist.

[mikelgb]

22. Is this the latest?

"I am the establishment"

"Black voters are the establishment"

"The Establishment does not exist."

evolution is beautiful

[SiliconValley_Dem]

23. All are precision engineered to fuck with anti-establishment types

[ZZenith]

26. Does antidisestablishmentarianism?

[GulfCoast66]

20. The establishment? You mean the category for anyone not for Bernie?

Because I really can’t see any difference.

[CTyankee]

8. Who cares?

I don't know why I should even give her a moment of my thoughts...

[Celerity]

32. [phone]

some love to flog a dead horse

[relayerbob]

12. Smarter than she looks, perhaps it was mostly an act

[IronLionZion]

14. Now that Americans are dying of a public health crisis

"Endless regime change wars" isn't much of an issue this year.

No matter what she says in her campaign, her voting record is more moderate than most Dems in Congress

https://voteview.com/person/21324/tulsi-gabbard

[PoliticAverse]

15. Sanders isn't gonna win. n/t

[GulfCoast66]

21. Hopping on the bus driven by the winner?

[comradebillyboy]

24. Maybe she wants to have a future in

the Democratic party...

[tritsofme]

25. Because Sanders isn't a real candidate anymore.

[Aquaria]

29. Was he ever?

I'm not so sure of that.

[LisaM]

27. I'm sure it's a signal Bernie is dropping out.

Maybe she's trying to deflect some of the anger some supporters will throw his way when he does.

[onenote]

28. it makes her more marketable to Fox

By aligning herself with Biden, she becomes more valuable to Fox as a "liberal Democrat" voice that will criticize Biden if he gets elected than she would be if she had never indicated any support for him.

[dansolo]

31. This, absolutely

I just assume that her motivation has to do with extending her relevance. This sounds absolutely like the most plausable, and is completely consistent with her previous actions. Her being in Congress was just a way to increase her profile. She got a boost by running for president. I believe she really wants a TV gig, and being a "liberal" contributor to FOX will give her the perfect opportunity to attack a Biden administration. I don't trust her at all.

[Beakybird]

30. Maybe it strengthens the public perception of her lawsuit against Clinton.

[betsuni]

33. Because Hillary Clinton is the popular nemesis scapegoat, not Joe Biden.

He's a guy. Doesn't really matter that he voted for the crime bill thing, Iraq War thing, NAFTA, was Vice President during the so-called "regime change" wars. Hillary is the bad warmonger who made American companies leave the U.S. and put everyone in jail. Bernie and Tulsi said so.

Bernie:

"The people in Detroit know the real cost of Hillary Clinton's free-trade policies."

"Hillary might want to apologize to loved ones in Iraq or to the massive levels of destabilization we are now seeing in that region. Or Senator Clinton might want to apologize to the millions of workers in this country who lost their jobs because of the disastrous trade agreements she supported."

Tulsi:

"You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long ... ."

When was she president or vice president again? I forget.