Senate Democrats have a new strategy for easing Bernie Sanders out of the presidential campaign: Flatter him and give him some space.

With Sanders on his way to Washington on Thursday, his colleagues in the Senate are softening their once-sharp rhetoric toward the independent senator who ran an insurgent campaign against Hillary Clinton. Though Sanders declined to concede after Clinton clinched the Democratic nomination this week, Senate Democrats are optimistic Sanders won’t continue his fight to the party’s convention in Philadelphia.


But they want to give him room to coalesce his movement behind Clinton — on his own terms.

Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, who called on Sanders to “stand down now” as voters were heading to the polls during Tuesday’s primaries, said Wednesday that he was confident the Vermont senator was, indeed, standing down.

Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico had warned earlier that Sanders risked diminishing his political capital to help craft the party’s convention platform if he refused to admit defeat to Clinton. But he was sounding a much more optimistic tone on Wednesday — even though Sanders still hadn’t conceded.

“I don’t think I’m in the business of offering Sen. Sanders advice,” Heinrich said. “I think Bernie’s going to do the right thing, and I think we’re at a point now where it’s time to think about how we make sure Donald Trump doesn’t make it into the White House. But … he certainly earned the right to do that on his time frame.”

Sanders will host a rally for supporters at RFK Stadium in Washington, but the real focus Thursday will be on his separate meetings with President Barack Obama and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Democrats expect Sanders’ visit to be placid and constructive — not divisive. While Democrats are aware Sanders could reject Obama and Reid’s unity pleas, aides said it was more likely the beginning of the party’s internal healing process.

At times, Reid has attacked Sanders for running a quixotic campaign that wore on despite insurmountable odds. But the top Senate Democrat has backed off the pressure somewhat since he suggested Sanders would “lose” and should “give up.”

He’s also kept lines of communication open with both Sanders and his wife, Jane — and arranged Thursday’s meeting through back-channel talks with Jane Sanders, sources said. Reid and the candidate’s wife met in person two weeks ago, when she was in Washington to attend an annual luncheon for Senate spouses.

For his part, Reid declined to elaborate on what he plans to tell Sanders.

“I’ll talk to Bernie tomorrow, and I’ll talk to you guys after I do that,” Reid told reporters Wednesday. “Until then, I think I’m better off just keeping quiet about it.”

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the presumed successor to Reid next year, added that Sanders has been a “very constructive influence” on Democrats during the Vermont senator’s presidential campaign.

At times, however, Sanders’ impact hasn’t been as well-received.

Senate Democrats and Sanders have been locked in a delicate dance for months, with a vast majority of the caucus aligned behind Clinton yet unwilling to alienate a longtime colleague who has invigorated the progressive movement. But as Clinton marched closer to the nomination, relations between Democratic senators and Sanders grew increasingly testy, particularly after a raucous convention in Reid’s home state of Nevada, where Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was shouted down by Sanders backers.

In his primary night speech in Santa Monica, California, Sanders pledged to continue his presidential ambitions to the July party convention, declaring to his supporters that “the struggle continues.” Clinton has secured the majority of pledged delegates, with just one contest left in the primary season: Washington, D.C., on June 14.

But with the math in place for Clinton and the former secretary of state declaring victory, even Sanders’ endorsers are focusing on rallying the Democratic Party behind her. In an interview, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley — the sole Senate Democrat to endorse Sanders during the race — said: “I do believe that we now have our nominee. Our nominee is Secretary Clinton.”

Merkley said it is up to three key groups — the Democratic National Committee, Clinton’s campaign and Sanders’ campaign — to take the lead in charting the path to party unity.

“Much is at stake. There is a lot that needs to be done to repair the path to make sure everyone has felt that they had been heard [and] their views had been respected,” said Merkley, who also pressured the party to consider key Sanders priorities such as reducing fossil fuel reliance, reforming campaign finance laws and raising the minimum wage.

Whether he fights it out to the convention or not, Sanders will carry with him more influence than ever before in his long career in politics, armed with the support of millions of grass-roots backers and a megaphone that will automatically add weight to whatever issue Sanders chooses to amplify.

Sanders’ influence in other areas has also been clear: Already, liberal senators such as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Brian Schatz of Hawaii are saying the Democratic Party should reevaluate the use of superdelegates, a major point of contention during Sanders’ campaign.

Meanwhile, other Senate Democrats are signaling to Sanders: We’re aware you don’t want to help Trump get to the White House, so help us by getting on board with us.

Boxer, who has been one of Clinton’s most enthusiastic surrogates on Capitol Hill, advised Sanders to take the approach that Clinton did in her losing presidential bid to Obama in 2008.

“I’m not telling him what that would be or how to say it or when to do it. This is all up to Bernie,” Boxer said Wednesday. “But I think he can look at the way Hillary handled it in a closer race.”

“Knowing Sen. Sanders, there’s no way in the world he wants to in any way do anything that would help Donald Trump become president,” added Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). “He needs to take the time that he needs to come up with his own strategy. But we fully expect that he will do that.”

