Even as Sen. Bernie Sanders continues to insist he can win the Democratic nomination, several prominent liberals have lined up behind front-runner Hillary Clinton in recent days — signaling that the time is now to begin unifying the party to take on Republican Donald Trump.
In endorsements of Clinton this week, California Gov. Jerry Brown and an influential environmental group, the NRDC Action Fund, argued that Democrats must stop fighting each other over their party’s nomination. Brown wrote in an open letter that Clinton offers the best chance to defeat Trump’s “dangerous” candidacy, while the fund, a political affiliate of the National Resources Defense Council, wrote that liberal groups must rally around Clinton because Trump’s policies would “take us back 100 years.”
Both efforts seemed aimed at bolstering Clinton in California, an enormous liberal state that Clinton could lose next Tuesday even as she is expected to effectively clinch the nomination in other states. Both reflected how damaging it could be to Clinton to kick off her battle against Trump with such a symbolic defeat.
“This is no time for Democrats to keep fighting each other,” Brown said in a message addressed to California Democrats and independents who will vote in next week’s primary. “The general election has already begun.”
The effort is a delicate one given the ardor of Sanders’s most steadfast fans — and their insistence that he can still win the nomination. Sanders is already preparing supporters to reject any pronouncements of Clinton as the party’s presumptive nominee next Tuesday, when primary results in New Jersey are expected to bring her total of pledged delegates (those won in nominating contests) and superdelegates (party leaders and elected officials who may back the candidate of their choosing) past the 2,383 she needs to secure the nomination.
At a rally in Santa Cruz, Calif., on Tuesday, Sanders warned that the media is expected to declare “the primary process is over, Secretary Clinton has won.” His statement was met with boos.
“That is factually incorrect. It’s just not factually correct,” the senator from Vermont said, predicting that he would win California and some other states next Tuesday and head into the convention with enough momentum to flip allegiances of superdelegates who have previously announced support for Clinton.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...top-table-main_democrats-1030a:homepage/story
In endorsements of Clinton this week, California Gov. Jerry Brown and an influential environmental group, the NRDC Action Fund, argued that Democrats must stop fighting each other over their party’s nomination. Brown wrote in an open letter that Clinton offers the best chance to defeat Trump’s “dangerous” candidacy, while the fund, a political affiliate of the National Resources Defense Council, wrote that liberal groups must rally around Clinton because Trump’s policies would “take us back 100 years.”
Both efforts seemed aimed at bolstering Clinton in California, an enormous liberal state that Clinton could lose next Tuesday even as she is expected to effectively clinch the nomination in other states. Both reflected how damaging it could be to Clinton to kick off her battle against Trump with such a symbolic defeat.
“This is no time for Democrats to keep fighting each other,” Brown said in a message addressed to California Democrats and independents who will vote in next week’s primary. “The general election has already begun.”
The effort is a delicate one given the ardor of Sanders’s most steadfast fans — and their insistence that he can still win the nomination. Sanders is already preparing supporters to reject any pronouncements of Clinton as the party’s presumptive nominee next Tuesday, when primary results in New Jersey are expected to bring her total of pledged delegates (those won in nominating contests) and superdelegates (party leaders and elected officials who may back the candidate of their choosing) past the 2,383 she needs to secure the nomination.
At a rally in Santa Cruz, Calif., on Tuesday, Sanders warned that the media is expected to declare “the primary process is over, Secretary Clinton has won.” His statement was met with boos.
“That is factually incorrect. It’s just not factually correct,” the senator from Vermont said, predicting that he would win California and some other states next Tuesday and head into the convention with enough momentum to flip allegiances of superdelegates who have previously announced support for Clinton.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...top-table-main_democrats-1030a:homepage/story
