--- title: Bernie’s Evolution description: His unlikely crusade became a genuine campaign. Now Sanders faces a choice--and a test canonical: https://time.com/4348959/bernies-evolution/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-26T10:14:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:51:21.020Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bernie’s Evolution og:description: His unlikely crusade became a genuine campaign. Now Sanders faces a choice--and a test og:url: https://time.com/4348959/bernies-evolution/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c6880cc692765b8/698894ebab6d7762e26a9d7a/bernie-sanders-campaigns-onward-despite-unlikely-success.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: bernie-sanders-campaigns-onward-despite-unlikely-success og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bernie’s Evolution twitter:description: His unlikely crusade became a genuine campaign. Now Sanders faces a choice--and a test twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c6880cc692765b8/698894ebab6d7762e26a9d7a/bernie-sanders-campaigns-onward-despite-unlikely-success.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bernie's Evolution  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent May 26, 2016 10:14 AM UTC  Sanders, here in Vista, Calif., May 22, must soon decide whether to back Clinton or keep his crusade alive Sanders, here in Vista, Calif., May 22, must soon decide whether to back Clinton or keep his crusade aliveCarolyn Drake—Magnum Photos for TIME  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent May 26, 2016 10:14 AM UTC Bernie Sanders wanted to sit in the sun, but not even the sharp California rays on the rooftop deck at a San Diego hotel could brighten his mood. There was still too much at stake, he said, too many lies being told, too many foes with bad motives inside his adopted party. The irascible impatience that has defined Sanders’ entire life–the fury of David against Goliath, of the worker against the owner–was peaking. And still people were telling him to hang it up, get in line and go back to the dairy pastures of Vermont… [Read the full story here.](http://time.com/bernie-sanders-2016-campaign/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4348959/bernies-evolution/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4348959/bernies-evolution/"},"headline":"Bernie's Evolution","datePublished":"2016-05-26T10:14:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:51:21.020Z","description":"His unlikely crusade became a genuine campaign. Now Sanders faces a choice--and a test","url":"https://time.com/4348959/bernies-evolution/","keywords":["Bernie Sanders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c6880cc692765b8/698894ebab6d7762e26a9d7a/bernie-sanders-campaigns-onward-despite-unlikely-success.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elliott","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c6880cc692765b8/698894ebab6d7762e26a9d7a/bernie-sanders-campaigns-onward-despite-unlikely-success.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"bernie-sanders-campaigns-onward-despite-unlikely-success","caption":"Sanders, here in Vista, Calif., May 22, must soon decide whether to back Clinton or keep his crusade alive","creditText":"Carolyn Drake—Magnum Photos for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4348959/bernies-evolution/","name":"Bernie's Evolution"}}]}] ```