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Sanders' first Senate endorser: Jeff Merkley

Bernie Sanders picked up his first endorsement from a Senate colleague on Wednesday, as Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) penned a New York Times op-ed backing his colleague from Vermont as "boldly and fiercely addressing the biggest challenges facing our country."

In explaining his endorsement, Merkley pointed to Sanders' positions on trade deals, fossil fuels, campaign finance reform and myriad financial issues.

"It has been noted that Bernie has an uphill battle ahead of him to win the Democratic nomination," Merkley wrote. "But his leadership on these issues and his willingness to fearlessly stand up to the powers that be have galvanized a grass-roots movement. People know that we don’t just need better policies, we need a wholesale rethinking of how our economy and our politics work, and for whom they work."

While conceding that Hillary Clinton "has a remarkable record" and "would be a strong and capable president," Merkley also wrote that the United States needs to do more to advance the work of the current administration.

"It is time to recommit ourselves to that vision of a country that measures our nation’s success not at the boardroom table, but at kitchen tables across America," he concluded. "Bernie Sanders stands for that America, and so I stand with Bernie Sanders for president."

Merkley explained the timing of his endorsement on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," noting that Oregon votes by mail and the ballots go out at the end of the month. Asked whether he believed Sanders could win, Merkley was equally optimistic and realistic.

“I think that anything’s possible in a campaign," he said. "Obviously, the math is an uphill climb, but we’ve been surprised by what happens in campaigns time and time again.”

Responding to questions about Sanders' rocky interview with the New York Daily News editorial board in which he struggled to articulate how he would break up large financial institutions, Merkley said people should look to the totality of his colleague's record.

"And he’s put forward a number of detailed proposals. He backed the Volcker rule, which took the gambling out of Wall Street. He backed the amendment to cap the shared deposits that any single big bank could have. He backed the increased levels of capital required if you’re a significant financial institution," he said, adding, "So, perhaps that interview wasn’t the moment that he put [that] on display."