“It will be hundreds of staff members”, Sanders said.
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The campaign will have gone from a staff of more than 1,000 in January to about 325-350, Briggs said.
“Now, with your help we’re going to come back to Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention with the most votes and the most pledged delegates”, she said at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia, a venue where some convention events are expected to be held. While senior strategist Tad Devine said the campaign would “reassess” its standing depending on the outcome, Sanders’ wife, Jane, said they “assess on an every day basis” and insisted her husband had no intention of dropping out of the 2016 contest.
Before Tuesday’s outcome, the former secretary of state had an nearly insurmountable lead of 275 pledged delegates heading into Tuesday’s contests, and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid told reporters he did not think Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, had a realistic path to winning the nomination.
Hillary Clinton scored a huge victory Tuesday night, winning the Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and CT primaries.
Clinton, speaking to a crowd in Philadelphia, made a direct appeal Sanders’ progressive backers, stressing all of the areas of agreement among Democrats and saying she wants to speak to those “who feel beaten down, left out and left behind”. He has vowed to compete until the final District of Columbia primary in June.
Speaking to many young supporters from the nearby hometowns of Oregon’s two major public universities, Sanders pointed out the primaries and caucuses he’s won thus far. “But I think the evidence is overwhelming, you are looking at the strongest Democratic candidate”, Sanders said.
“I have about 800 people on the list, there’s a lot of people that have been very active with Californians for Trump”, said Trump’s California campaign manager, Tim Clark. But he expressed hope Sanders would point out their differences but “not assail her judgment or character anymore”. Last week, one of Sanders’ top aides told NPR the campaign would have to “re-evaluate” its options depending on the outcome of Tuesday’s primaries.
That said, we do respect the enormous energy and passion that Bernie voters can bring to the Democratic party.
Lauren Vella, 25, of Newark went to the Clinton rally on Monday and cast her ballot for her on Tuesday.
The big question beginning Wednesday is whether Sanders will continue to hammer Clinton – including over her prior paid Wall Street speeches – as she attempts to pivot to a general election campaign. But in other events Sanders has largely steered clear of Clinton, focusing instead on Trump.
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But asked whether Mr. Sanders has a path to the nomination Mr. Reid did not equivocate.
