Progressive activist group hopes to get Democratic 2020 candidates to sign loyalty pledge

Nicholas Wu | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Seeking to avoid the acrimony of the 2016 primaries and present a unified front going into 2020, the progressive grassroots group Indivisible is trying to get Democratic presidential candidates to pledge to support the eventual nominee, whoever it ends up being. And their effort seems to be working.

As of the time of publishing, 12 out of the 20 declared Democratic candidates have signed on to the "We Are Indivisible Pledge." Signatories agree to "respect the other candidates," "rally behind the winner," and "put myself at the disposal of the campaign [of the primary winner]." All of the top-polling candidates have signed on except for former Vice President Joe Biden.

The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

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In the 2016 campaign season, splits between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns roiled the Democratic primary. Among other low points, Clinton accused Sanders of siding with gun manufacturers instead of the families of Sandy Hook victims, and Sanders said that Clinton was "hustling money from the wealthy and powerful."

On the Republican side, a similar loyalty pledge fell apart after the remaining three candidates pulled out of it.The Republican field that year was almost as large as the Democratic one is now, and several of the candidates decided not to back the nominee when Trump emerged as the front-runner, despite having earlier signed the party's loyalty pledge. Trump himself pulled out of it after saying that the Republican Party had treated him "unfairly."

Maria Urbina, Indivisible's national political director, explained that the group wasn't anticipating similar splits among Democrats going into the 2020 primaries and general election. According to Urbina, the group's 5,000 chapters and over 1 million members were gearing up to defeat President Trump, regardless of the final Democratic nominee.

"I think folks understand clearly that there's a mandate to come together no matter what, next summer," said Urbina.