'Political revolution must continue': Sanders to work with Clinton to transform Democratic Party

As his campaign winds down, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has vowed to continue his political revolution and defeat Donald Trump by working with presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton to transform the Democratic Party.

“The major political task that we face in the next five months is to make certain that Donald Trump is defeated and defeated badly. And I personally intend to begin my role in that process in a very short period of time,” Senator Sanders (D-Vermont) told an online audience of 100,000 on Thursday, affirming again that he plans to stay in the nomination race through to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and the according to The Hill.

Sanders said "the political revolution must continue" and he would be working with Clinton to ensure that the Democratic Party “passes the most progressive platform in its history and that Democrats actually fight for that agenda,” so that the party becomes “a party of working people and young people.”

Sanders’ list for the platform includes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, ensuring equal pay for women, gay rights, enacting gun control reform, protecting Social Security, defeating the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and reforming the banking system, as well as the role of money in politics.

Sanders also criticized the leadership of the Democratic National Committee for failing to adopt a “50-state strategy.”

“We can no longer ignore the fact that, sadly, the current Democratic Party leadership has turned its back on dozens of states in the country and has allowed right-wing politicians to win elections in some states with virtually no opposition – including some of the poorest states in America,” Sanders added.

Sanders said that having 23 states with majority-Republican legislatures and Republican governors was “unacceptable.”

Sanders’ announcement came on the same day that the Clinton campaign installed a new top official to oversee the party’s day-to-day operations.

Brandon Davis, national political director of the Service Employees International Union, will become the general election chief of staff for the Democratic Party.

“We have a lot of work to do over the next five months to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president,” Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, said on Thursday, according to CNN. “With so much at stake in this election, we could not ask for a better partner in that mission than the team here.”

The move comes as the leadership of the Democratic National Committee, particularly Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, finds itself under increasing fire in the wake of the presidential primary fight, with Sanders calling for her resignation.

Schultz will remain in her position at least through next month’s convention, but her role is diminishing with the Clinton campaign’s takeover of the committee.