But Sanders’ win in OR on Tuesday netted him just four more delegates than Clinton, and their near-tie in Kentucky did not help him either.
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The rift that the Clinton-Sanders competition has opened in the party will only have been deepened by results of Tuesday night’s primaries when Mr Sanders extended a long streak of wins by taking OR while Ms Clinton appeared to have eked out a victory in Kentucky.
Despite having an nearly unassailable lead in the number of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination, and with the primary battle heading towards the final contests next month, Clinton will need Sanders supporters on her side in the general election.
Meantime, Bernie Sanders is pushing back against accusations that his supporters almost came to blows with Clinton backers last weekend in Nevada.
Or the other option for the Democratic party which I see as a very sad and tragic option is to choose to maintain its status quo structure, remain dependent on big money campaign contributions, and be a party with limited participation and limited energy. Part of the campaign’s reasoning for remaining in the race could be to block Clinton from pivoting back to the center too soon.
Clinton is just 90 delegates shy of the 2,383 needed to seize the nomination, as reported by Fox News. Her tally is bolstered by 524 super delegates, high-ranking party officials who aren’t bound by primary results.
But a bitter end to the Clinton-Sanders primary may be hard to avoid. Sanders and his supporters believe that the candidate has been cheated out of delegates and that the party has favored Hillary Clinton in the convention’s proceedings.
Caller: “You suck and you’re a f****** c***, and I hope you suffer”.
Mr Sanders told a rally in Carson, California: “Before we will have the opportunity to defeat Donald Trump, we’re going to have to defeat secretary Clinton”.
Despite being behind in the delegate count, the senator from Vermont shows absolutely no signs of backing down before the Democratic Convention in July. “Should Secretary Clinton win these key categories, I think the conversation will begin about how to bring the sides together so we can go into the convention united, go out of the convention even more united, and make sure that this charlatan, this self-promoting charlatan, Donald Trump, does not become president”.
Throughout his campaign, Sanders has presented himself as a movement-builder.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said that he spoke to Sanders today and is “confident” that Sanders condemns the violence. At the event, Sanders supporters reportedly “shouted, cursed, and screamed”, while hurling chairs and vandalizing buildings.
Jim Manley, a Democratic spokesman and former top Reid aide, anxious that even if Sanders backs Clinton, the rancor of the campaign may lead his supporters to stay home on Election Day.
And Leahy says it’s essential that Sanders and Clinton work out their differences.
Tweet from Progressive blogger Josh Marshall, who has re-evaluated his thinking on who is responsible for Sanders’ for fanning his supporters’ ire at the Democratic Party establishment.
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That is the text of one of many voicemails received by Roberta Lange, chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic Party, after the state convention ended in chaos this past weekend. The billionaire businessman picked up nine delegates on Tuesday in Guam, which held its territorial convention in March, and had 1,143 delegates heading into the OR contest, fewer than 100 delegates short of the 1,237 he needs to clinch the nomination.
