Hillary Clinton today ended her Democratic presidential primary campaign on a winning note as she defeated her party rival Senator Bernie Sanders in the USA capital, setting the stage for a fierce showdown with Republican opponent Donald Trump in November.
Advertisement
The Sanders campaign released a statement late Tuesday night saying the group had “a positive discussion about how best to bring more people into the political process and about the unsafe threat that Donald TrumpDonald TrumpJoe Heck wins GOP Nevada Senate primary Trump wouldn’t ban reporters from WH briefing room Trump on soldiers: Who took Iraq War cash?“.
Billed as a key step toward uniting the party, the meeting between the rival candidates began after Clinton had clinched a lopsided victory in the District of Columbia primary Tuesday night, the final contest of the 2016 presidential primary season.
Sanders said he would push for new leadership in the Democratic National Committee – his campaign has sparred with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the party’s chair – along with a progressive platform in the summer convention and electoral changes, such as primaries that allow independents to participate and the elimination of superdelegates.
Clinton now holds a 375 delegate lead over Sanders and has received millions more votes than him.
‘Senator Sanders and I have a lot to talk about -we have a lot in common, ‘ she said.
Sanders made his comments outside his Washington campaign headquarters after meeting behind closed doors with Senate Democratic colleagues.
The Vermont senator has said the private meeting will help him determine how committed Clinton will be to the policy issues he has staked out in his 13-month campaign.
Sanders has opened up his campaign’s massive email donor list to several Democratic candidates, hauling in more than $2.4 million for his allies.
On Sunday evening, after meeting in Burlington, Vt., with his close advisers and supporters, Sanders called for a 50-state strategy to get young people and working people to run for political office and to demand that government answers the needs of “ordinary people”, not just wealthy campaign contributors. Bernie Sanders, in Washington for about two hours to discuss the party platform.
Sanders and his wife Jane went in and out of the front entrance of the hotel, which was lined with cheering onlookers who snapped pictures and yelled out his name.
“The American people are hurting, and they are hurting badly”, Sanders said during a news conference outside a campaign office off Capitol Hill.
Hillary Clinton became the presumptive Democratic nominee last week, and although Bernie Sanders promised to fight on until the party’s convention next month, his campaign is clearly near at an end.
When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton holds a wider lead, of 2,798 to 1,879.
“We both want everybody in this country to have healthcare”, she said.
Sanders won 22 states and 45% of pledged delegates during his quest for the nomination, and he consistently led Clinton overwhelmingly among 18-29-year-olds.
But when asked about compromises that she might make when it comes to her agenda, Clinton insisted that she and Sanders are on the same side of many issues.
Advertisement
“The time is long overdue for a fundamental transformation of the Democratic Party”, Sanders told reporters, saying his delegates were intent on seeing change.
