The former first lady, senator from NY and secretary of state will officially become the Democratic nominee at next month’s convention and will face presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in a general election battle that is already shaping up as one of the nastiest campaigns in modern USA history.
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The pair of wins provides a boost ahead of Tuesday’s culminating vote with New Jersey and the big prize of California at stake.
Sanders has pledged to keep up his fight for the Democratic nomination through the party’s convention in Philadelphia in July.
Tuesday could very well decide the ultimate fate of Bernie Sanders, with the primaries – especially in California – offering big delegate pools that are expected to tip the scales and award Hillary Clinton the nomination.
Campaigning in San Francisco, Sanders declined to speculate to reporters about what a poor showing in Tuesday’s primaries might mean to his presidential campaign.
The reason for the focus on pledged delegates is because early on in this contest, the Sanders campaign, facing such a deficit with superdelegates – he’s never been a Democrat before this year – said it would be unfair for superdelegates to put Clinton over the top, even if Sanders beat her with the “will of the people”.
“It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgement, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee’s clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer”, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said in a statement.
Whether or not the Sanders campaign ends up pushing on to the convention in July is still to be seen, though it certainly seems to be the case.
Most caveats are no longer necessary – with one hitch: Clinton is not officially the nominee.
The reason NPR includes superdelegates in our count, which comes to us via the AP, either for Clinton or Sanders is because these officials have publicly pledged their support to one or the other candidate.
She must also unify a Democratic Party that has shown signs of a divide between the establishment and progressives, who helped Sanders surge to victory in dozens of states. As has been the case throughout the primaries, Clinton looks to lean on her support among minorities during the California vote. Sanders supporters argue it is “misleading”, “unfair”, and even a “lie” that news networks would declare Clinton the victor because “superdelegates” don’t officially vote until the convention.
While it’s true that Clinton will likely – and easily – secure the necessary superdelegates to take home the official Democratic nomination in the coming weeks, Clinton’s rival, Vermont Sen.
Though she marched into her second presidential primary campaign as an overwhelming favorite, Clinton could not shake Sanders until its final days.
Two Democratic sources told the network that the president is ready to “get people fired up” for the Democratic front-runner, and that waiting to endorse Clinton is “driving him insane”.
Sanders blasted the superdelegate process Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” in an interview with Jake Tapper.
Her victory formally draws the battle lines for a deeply contentious November general election battle with Trump.
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Nevertheless, Clinton, who is certain to add hundreds more delegates to her total in Tuesday’s primaries, can savor her political comeback, after losing the 2008 Democratic primary to Obama.
