“Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president and commander-in-chief”, Clinton said.
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Facing elimination, Bernie Sanders vowed Monday to win primaries in California and beyond even as Hillary Clinton secured the commitments of enough delegates to become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Eight years ago in June 2008, Clinton did exactly that when she ended her bitter primary fight with Obama.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S., May 8, 2016.
Clinton, 68, spoke shortly after beating Sanders in New Jersey’s nominating contest, expanding her lead in the delegates needed to clinch the nomination and setting up a five-month general election campaign against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in the November 8 election.
A former USA secretary of state, Clinton would be the first woman presidential candidate of a major US political party.
While superdelegates will not formally cast their votes for Mrs Clinton until the party’s July convention in Philadelphia, all those counted in her tally have unequivocally told AP they will do so. He says so-called superdelegates shouldn’t be counted toward Clinton’s total and that he will work to win them to his side. That means that California’s primary may serve as a litmus test of the party’s interest in Sanders’ liberal policies – even if it won’t sway the outcome of the nomination.
Despite Sanders’ strong push in California, “it seems nearly certain that Clinton will have won enough delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination on Tuesday”, said Alan I. Abramowitz, senior columnist for the University of Virginia Center for Politics, “Crystal Ball” blog, which has been projecting winners in each primary race. “And the issue is going to be do we feel the same sense of urgency, and are we engaged and are we participating to make sure that we win a White House and we get back a Congress that can move this country forward in a constructive way”, Obama said.
According to AP, Clinton has 1,812 pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses.
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said they were pushing supporters and volunteers to “stay at this” as California, New Jersey, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and New Mexico hold nominating contests.
Despite growing pressure from party luminaries to exit the race, Sanders, a USA senator from Vermont who describes himself as a democratic socialist, has vowed to continue the fight until the party convention that formally picks the nominee. She also has the support of 571 superdelegates, according to AP.
Yet the former secretary of state spent little time celebrating wins Saturday in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Sunday in Puerto Rico, instead remaining focused on Tuesday’s contests in California and five other states – and a general election matchup to come against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.
While he has made remarks indicating a preference for Clinton, his former secretary of state, Obama has so far avoided a clear endorsement and has focused his remarks about the campaign on blasting Trump.
“In this campaign, we have seen her vision, her knowledge, her ability, indeed her stamina, to get the job done for the American people”, Pelosi said in a statement.
For another: Obama is scheduled to be in NY on Wednesday for Democratic fundraisers, a convenient opportunity to deliver an endorsement in her home state.
In practice, superdelegates who have announced their intention are unlikely to change their mind.
“I am going to give a major speech on probably Monday of next week, and we are going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons”, he said.
Asked Monday whether an Obama endorsement of Clinton would affect his campaign, Sanders deflected, saying he was being asked to speculate before an important primary in California.
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Clinton edged Sanders out in a rough-and-tumble battle that stretched over four months and 50 states. Some 27 percent of Sanders’ supporters said in May that they would vote for neither candidate or another alternative.
