In the latest sign the liberal establishment is lining up behind his presidential bid, Sen. Bernard Sanders on Thursday secured an endorsement from The Nation magazine, the first national news outlet to choose a candidate in the 2016 race.

In its endorsement, the magazine — one of the country’s top progressive publications — said the Vermont senator is the only candidate with “the potential to unite the movements emerging across the country.”

“He has summoned the people to a ‘political revolution,’ arguing that the changes our country so desperately needs can only happen when we wrest our democracy from the corrupt grip of Wall Street bankers and billionaires. We believe such a revolution is not only necessary but possible — and that’s why we’re endorsing Bernie Sanders for president,” The Nation editors said in a piece published Thursday. “This magazine rarely makes endorsements in the Democratic primary (we’ve done so only twice: for Jesse Jackson in 1988, and for Barack Obama in 2008). We do so now impelled by the awareness that our rigged system works for the few and not for the many. Americans are waking up to this reality, and they are demanding change.”

The Nation endorsement comes on the heels of other powerful liberal groups such as MoveOn.org and Democracy for America also lining up behind Mr. Sanders.

The senator on Thursday retweeted The Nation’s endorsement piece, driving home the point that progressives are siding with him, not Hillary Clinton, in the Democratic party primary.

Recent polling shows Mr. Sanders in a dead heat with Mrs. Clinton in Iowa and leading in New Hampshire.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.