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Nader: Sanders won't get anything he wants on Democratic platform

Where Bernie Sanders comes up short in getting his demands recognized on the Democratic presidential platform, former Green Party nominee Ralph Nader said Wednesday that the Vermont senator can more than make up for by leading a national movement to galvanize his base and campaign for Democrats ahead of the general election.

“Well, he’s going to ask for a lot of things that he’s not going to get. He’ll get a prime-time spot, but he’ll ask for $15 minimum wage, he’ll ask for universal health insurance, he’ll ask for breaking up the big banks. He’s not going to get anything," Nader remarked in an interview promoting his latest book on C-SPAN. "That’s the tradition in the Democratic Party. Once the vanquished goes to the convention, they are really vanquished. And they just get in line, shut up and praise the nominee."

Sanders will be different, Nader suggested. "I think he can go all over the country supporting Democratic candidates for election, and I think he’s very reluctant to lend his credibility to Hillary’s incredibility.”

Though Sanders' path to the nomination is now mathematically impossible, Nader noted that he could have been the Democrats' standard-bearer, if states like Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Delaware had opened their primary process to all voters.

“I think what he has to do next is lead a civic movement. He’s got to have a big rally on the Mall and he’s got to take his agenda and say we want to press all the parties, all the candidates, from national to local to turn this country in the right direction of fair play and sustainable productivity," Nader said. "If he does that, he’ll be relatively independent. He won't be seen as a toady following Clinton, Hillary Clinton, if she wins. He’s got a lot of agonizing decisions to make, but he’s also got a huge base of support and the things that count very high in the polls.”

As far as whether Nader has been offering this advice to the candidate directly, the former candidate and consumer advocate said Sanders does not need anyone else's advice at this point.

“He hasn’t returned a call in 17 years," Nader said.