Her total is comprised of pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses, as well as superdelegates – the party officials and officeholders who can back a candidate of their choosing. “I have heard reports that the media, after the New Jersey results come in, are going to declare that it is all over”.
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Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigned furiously throughout California this weekend ahead of Tuesday’s primary. “We have six elections tomorrow and we’re going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in California”.
Hillary Clinton has enough support from pledged delegates and superdelegates to be declared the Democratic presidential nominee, according to an updated tally from the AP.
The AP surveyed the superdelegates repeatedly in the past seven months. She also has the support of 571 superdelegates, according to an Associated Press count.
Clinton has vowed to “do everything I can to unify the Democratic Party”, saying she would reach out to Sanders.
Sanders supporters offer a variety of scenarios that might swing superdelegate support their way: More damning revelations about Clinton’s email problems, polls showing Sanders as a stronger candidate against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, etc.
Previous Democratic campaigns, including those of Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, mostly ignored the state, writing it off due to its solid history of voting for Republicans in presidential contests.
A win in the state by more than 5 points would be a moral justification to go to the Philadelphia Democratic convention on July 25-28 and fight for more say on the Democratic platform in November. Barack Obama held over Clinton when he clinched the Democratic nomination on June 4, 2008. “That’s an opportunity the president relishes”.
Clinton should lock up the nomination pretty early today.
One of Obama’s tasks will be bringing along the young, progressive voters who have been a key part of his base but have lined up behind Sanders this year. “It’s really emotional and I am someone who has been very touched and really encouraged by this extraordinary conviction people have”.
The Vermont senator has long argued the system is tilted against him, with hundreds of “super-delegates” aligning with Clinton before he even entered the race a year ago. Clinton holds a big lead in “pledged delegates” chosen in primaries and caucuses.
But the networks and big news organizations should not cover his claim that he can still win the nomination as though it casts her historic victory in doubt. He did say that four superdelegates have committed to switch from Hillary Clinton to Sanders and that he is having private conversation with more.
When it comes to winning the nomination, only delegates matter. But she also said she looks “forward to campaigning with the president and everybody else”. A handful of states, including California, are holding elections on Tuesday.
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A victory there would give the Democratic National Committee something to think about, said Los Angeles resident Bruce Purcell, who was one of the estimated crowd of 14,000 in attendance on Saturday night.
