Clinton and Sanders are no longer congratulating each other on primary wins

A lack of pleasantries on the Democratic side.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 28 March 2016

Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are reportedly no longer making customary congratulatory calls to each other's campaigns after primary losses. While they (or their high-ranking aides) made the calls early on, in more recent races both candidates have declined to phone each other with their compliments and concessions.

Though skipping the calls (or, in earlier eras, the telegrams or letters) might be understandable given the sheer length of the primary process, it is widely considered bad form — like refusing to shake the other team's hands at the end of a baseball game. "Those who don't make the call are often considered sore losers," explained former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.