April Burbank

The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. — Bernie Sanders said little when he returned from California to his home state Wednesday evening, a day after his chances of winning the Democratic presidential nomination had slimmed to near zero.

The Vermont supporters who huddled on a windy afternoon at Burlington International Airport to welcome his plane, however, pledged to follow him to the very end.

"He needs to go all the way to the convention," said Martha Abbott of Underhill, just before Sanders landed in South Burlington. "There's a generation of young people who are counting on his voice and his issues."

Said Chris Young of Cornwall: "Just because he can't win doesn't mean there's nothing to be gained by his running.”

A small crowd had gathered to welcome Sanders, including many local journalists. Members of the general public were pulled out of the group just before Sanders arrived and asked to stand across the street.

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Sanders greeted the group of supporters, ignoring the reporters who had set up a podium and microphones in hopes that Sanders would speak. After a few hugs and a joke about Vermont's cold weather, Sanders climbed into an SUV with his wife, Jane, and drove away.

Sanders was expected to meet with President Obama on Thursday morning to discuss issues such as economic inequality and campaign finance reform. The final Democratic primary contest will be held in the District of Columbia next week.

Sanders has given no indication that he plans to drop out of the race, despite rival Hillary Clinton's declaration of victory Tuesday.

"The struggle continues," Sanders wrote in an email to supporters Wednesday, echoing comments he made at a rally in Santa Monica, Calif. "We are going to fight for every vote in Tuesday's primary in Washington, D.C., and then we will bring our political revolution to the Democratic convention in Philadelphia."

Sanders' campaign has been calling superdelegates, the Democratic leaders and officials who choose a candidate at the convention in July, in a last-ditch effort to sway the race in his favor.

"The superdelegates don't vote until July 25, and they can change their mind," said Nova Kim of Randolph, who drove to South Burlington on Wednesday to greet Sanders.

But one of Vermont's superdelegates, Rep. Peter Welch, said Wednesday that Sanders will eventually relent for the sake of party unity.

“Bernie will take the time he needs, but I know he’ll make the right decision,” said Welch, who endorsed Sanders for president in March. He recalled Sanders’ time as Burlington mayor, when his democratic socialist revolution spent plenty of time plowing streets.

“He’s a pragmatic person,” Welch said in a telephone interview.

Former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin expects Sanders to endorse Clinton before the Democratic National Convention in July in an effort to defeat presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“It’s hard to stop campaigning. It’s like you’re in a marathon and you’ve hit the last mile. You want to keep going,” said Kunin, a longtime Clinton supporter.

In recent weeks as campaign fundraising has fallen off, Sanders, 74, has pivoted his strategy. Campaign emails tell supporters that their donation will signal support for Sanders’ issues, not only Sanders’ campaign.

He has also started funneling donors toward congressional and local candidates — including Vermont Rep. Christopher Pearson, who is running for state Senate in Chittenden County.

Pearson was flooded with more than $63,000 in contributions from across the nation as a result of Sanders’ endorsement. He took in unusual donation amounts such as $1.11 because a $10 donation had been split among nine Sanders endorsees.

“I feel like I won the political lottery,” Pearson said.

Sanders started his political career in 1981 as an unlikely mayor of Burlington and rose to become a congressman and U.S. senator, all the while eschewing the "Democratic" label and political establishment.

He continued railing against elites after declaring his run for president. The campaign began with a hurried news conference on the U.S. Capitol lawn in April 2015, and a month later Sanders formally announced his candidacy at a rally in Burlington's Waterfront Park.

Adoring crowds transformed Sanders into a liberal icon with fundraising and electoral success that, at times, seemed to catch even Sanders by surprise.

Welch, the Vermont congressman, said his colleagues who endorsed Clinton have also been impressed by Sanders. They approach Welch to ask, “What’s the magic?”

“The answer’s pretty simple,” Welch said. “He speaks truth to power.”