Sanders and Trump are outsider candidates riding a wave of populist excitement. Both candidates are also looking ahead to the June 7 contests, the last in the long nominating season, in which almost 700 delegates are at stake, including 475 in California, where Sanders is now focusing his efforts.
Advertisement
The state party said it abided by rules adopted by Clinton and Sanders supporters alike.
The result in the West Virginia Democratic primary underscored the awkward position Clinton and the party’s establishment face as they attempt to turn their focus to the general election.
Democratic lawmakers who hope to make a dent on the Republican majority in Congress on the coattails of the presidential elections are starting to worry that Sanders’ prolonged stay in the race is debilitating to Clinton and the party, particularly after Trump’s opponents in the GOP have folded before him, leaving a clear path to the nomination.
I dont think they think of the downside of this, said Sen. Party officials say 1,695 Clinton-supporting delegates and 1,662 Sanders-supporting delegates showed up to the event with the proper credentials.
Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if Bernie took one for the team and started to argue to his supporters why Hillary Clinton would be a far better President and Commander-in-Chief than the nominee on the other side who would tear up America’s system of alliances, ban all Muslims from entering the country, and be open to the possibility of using nuclear weapons in the heart of Europe.
WASHINGTON Democratic Party leaders are upping the pressure on Bernie Sanders to drop his presidential campaign, alarmed that his continued presence is undermining efforts to beat the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, and again win the White House.
“We just got word that we won our 19 state”, Sanders told supporters in an email moments after NBC News projected he would win early in the evening.
About last week’s reports that Clinton was soliciting support from Republican donors who were unsettled by Trump, Sanders said on Friday, “Those are the kinds of things that make not only my supporters, but millions of Americans, nervous”.
Even as the primaries continue, Clinton has largely shifted her focus to the general election.
Clinton’s campaign announced she will stop in the state on Sunday and Monday.
Clinton easily won the Kentucky primary over Barack Obama in 2008.
Clinton backers say theres plenty for Sanders to do in his old job and a lot of good reasons for him to join forces.
Advertisement
Although Clinton has accumulated more popular votes during the Democratic primaries and caucuses, and has captured more pledged delegates and super delegates than Sanders, his heft against a Republican nominee as measured by polls has prevailed month after month. But Sanders supporters showed up in force at the county conventions where he took the delegate count.
