Senate Democrats are worried Bernie Sanders is going to blow this for Hillary

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

published 13 July 2015

Bernie Sanders' ever-cautious Democratic colleagues in the Senate are shocked he's made it as far as he has in his run for president — and some worry if he gets much stronger, he'll hurt Hillary Clinton's chances, Politico reports. That's not to say that they think Sanders can win the presidential primary. As Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) put it to Politico, "I just don't believe that someone who is a self-described socialist is going to be elected to be president of the United States."

For Hillary-supporting Senate Democrats, it's more a fear that Sanders' leftist views will pull Clinton further left, and alienate her from some voters in the general election. "I just hope they don’t move Hillary so far left that people believe she is out of the realm," said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a Clinton supporter. "I've seen bases move people."

However, even though, as Politico reports, Sanders "has virtually no support from congressional Democrats, who have been backing for Clinton for months," some Democrats aren't discounting Sanders quite so fast. While Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) still supports Clinton, he made this comment on Sanders: "I think Bernie is a really authentic, important voice. He started kind of no place. So he had no place to go but up."