Bernie Sanders’ campaign health scare may have done more damage to his campaign than 2020 Democratic rivals such as Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and more than a dozen others.
The Vermont senator, 78, is expected to make a full recovery from a heart procedure this week that sidelined him from the campaign trail. Sanders also plans to participate in the next Democratic primary debate on Oct. 15 in Ohio.
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But Democratic consultant Jeff Hewitt, while wishing Sanders good health, acknowledged the operation — two stents to fix a blockage in one artery — was a blow to his bid.
“At age 78, this is a devastating setback at this point in his campaign. He had just raised a significant amount of money, almost $25 million in the last quarter,” Hewitt told the Washington Examiner. “The question becomes, does his fundraising decline based on the new calculus that he’s a 78-year-old man who had to be hospitalized for a health condition?”
Undecided voters on the left flank of the Democratic electorate may gravitate toward Warren, a Massachusetts senator, who is herself 70.
“Those who are for him will probably stay with him, but those who are still voter-shopping in the Democratic primary or wavering between him and Elizabeth Warren might hedge their bet a little bit more toward Warren simply because of the age factor,” Hewitt said.
Sanders received the stents after experiencing “chest discomfort” during a campaign event in Las Vegas on Tuesday. To expedite the healing process, which usually takes a couple of weeks, the senator’s camp canceled most of his appearances until further notice, except for the Oct. 15 Democratic presidential primary debate in Westerville, Ohio. Sanders’ wife Jane said Thursday her husband would likely be discharged from the hospital and be back in Burlington to recuperate “before the end of the weekend.” In the meantime, supporters such as San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz will make his case on the trail.
Sanders’ team also postponed a $1.3 million ad buy that was supposed to be rolled out on Thursday in Iowa. The ads, his first of the 2020 election cycle, were only announced this week.
Hewitt questioned the campaign’s decision to delay the ads. However, he said Sanders wasn’t out of White House contention just yet because the scare was “an isolated incident.”
“If he continues to have health issues and it starts to affect his fundraising, I think that’s when you will see a slide in the poll numbers,” he said.
Tim Jerman, vice chairman of the Vermont Democratic Party, said, too, the procedure would likely have “no impact” on Sanders’ most ardent fans. Nevertheless, the former state representative foreshadowed a shrinking of the Sanders base, at least in his home state.
“Although Bernie will certainly win the primary, he may not sweep the pledged delegates as he did in 2016,” Jerman said.
The timing of Sanders’ operation comes as Warren builds momentum behind her candidacy, overtaking the senator, with whom she shares supporters, in polling averages. She now ranks second behind former Vice President Joe Biden, 76.
Sanders is the oldest Democratic presidential contender in the 2020 field and, if elected next year, would be the oldest commander in chief to serve in office. President Ronald Reagan, the oldest president to date, was 77 at the end of his two terms in 1989.
