Sanders Chills Historic Night
Bernie Sanders chills an otherwise historic night with his continued presence in the race to become the Democratic nominee for President, as former First Lady Hillary Clinton was declared the presumptive nominee of her party following the June 7th primary results.
Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders chills a historic night for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. Sanders told a cheering crowd in California that he will remain in the race for the Democratic nomination for President.The last primary contest will be held next week in the District of Columbia. Also, he said that he will take his fight for the nomination to the floor of the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.
Sanders’ announcement came on the hills of a congratulatory call from President Barrack Obama to Clinton. The President congratulated Clinton on becoming the presumptive Democratic Party nominee. For much of the campaign, the national media has regarded Clinton as the presumptive nominee. Now, President Obama can be added to that list of people who believe the Democratic nomination is all but wrapped up by Clinton.
On Monday, the Associate Press announced Clinton as the winner of the Democratic Primary. The AP added super delegates they had polled to the actual number of pledged delegates Clinton has won during a bruising primary campaign against Sanders and Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.
Clinton should come out of the June 7th primaries with about 2,000 pledged delegates, approximately 300 shy of the total she needs to win the nomination without the assistance of super delegates.
Two historic events occurred this week in presidential politics. This is the first time that a presidential primary contest winner has been declared by a major news organization. Usually winners are announced by the political parties after they have tallied votes and assigned delegates from all 50 states. There were seven state primaries yet to be held when the AP declared Clinton the Democratic nominee.
Also, for the first time in history, a woman will be the standard bearer of a major political party.
Many political commentators speculated that Sanders would probably drop out of the race after a strong showing by Clinton in New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.
Sanders won in North Dakota, Montana and at the time of his speech to supporters he thought he would win a significant number of delegates in California, although it appears that Clinton will win California handily.
In a speech to her supporters, Clinton wasted little time in seeking Sanders supporters and in blasting Republican Party presumptive nominee Donald Trump for his disparaging comments about Mexicans, women and the disabled.
While Trump told his supporters that next week he would hold a press conference where he will expose the Clinton’s involvement in several scandals over the years.
Although, Clinton acknowledged the historic nature of the events of June 7th, Sanders’ continued presence in the race chills the goose bumps that one would expect to have when a woman for the first time in American history is the last person standing in her party’s primary.
Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com.
