22:14

Bernie Sanders promises to play nice.

That is, the Independent senator from Vermont has once again vowed not to run negative campaign ads against his opponents.

“Bernie wants this to be a campaign of ideas and will be more than happy to discuss differences he has on the issues,” said Arianna Jones, a Sanders campaign spokesperson. “However, he has never, nor will he, engage in personal attacks.”

The pledge, first reported by BuzzFeed, could help to shape the rules of engagement in what is expected to be a spirited primary season with a sprawling and still-growing filed of Democratic candidates.

The senator has long bragged to reporters that he has never run a negative campaign ad in his life. And he made the same commitment when he ran against Hillary Clinton for the nomination in 2016.

But as the competition grew increasingly bitter, Sanders ran an ad ahead of the Iowa caucuses that many in the Clinton campaign said was clearly a negative attack. The “Two Visions” ad did not name Clinton but in contrasting the candidates, Sanders implied that his opponent was beholden to Wall St and “big money”. The senator fought her to a near-tie in the state.



In her memoir of the 2016 campaign, Clinton said Sanders’ attacks “caused lasting damage”.

