Monday night, after the Associated Press and many other media outlets declared Hillary Clinton the presumptive Democrat nominee, Bernie Sanders refused to bow out.
Tuesday evening, Hillary Clinton appeared on track to win four of six primaries — including what appears to be a strong margin in California, a state on which Bernie Sanders had pinned high hopes, especially as recent polls showed him closing the gap. Earlier, Clinton made her “historic” speech — which many in the media were lauding as her first address as the first ever woman nominee of a major U.S. political party.
News broke that President Obama had been on the phone with both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The buzz of Democrat bridges being built and party unity was high.
So Bernie Sanders’ late-night address to supporters in Santa Monica carried high expectations. Would he or wouldn’t he concede?
Turns out, he wouldn’t. Sanders confirmed to supporters tonight, “The struggle continues.”
As CNN reports:
Bernie Sanders delivered an uncharacteristically short speech tonight in California — pledging to fight onto the convention but holding any punches for Hillary Clinton.
“We are going to fight hard to win the primary in Washington, D.C., and then we take our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,” Sanders said — leaving out any of his usual mentions of winning the nomination in the end.
“I know the fight in front of us is a very, very steep fight,” he said, adding that he’s good at arithmetic, “but we will continue to fight for every vote and for every delegate we can.”
Sanders said he had a “kind” call with President Barack Obama.
“I look forward to working with him to make sure we move this country forward,” he said.
Sanders mentioned Clinton only briefly, noting:
“And tonight I had a very gracious call from Secretary Clinton and congratulated her on her victories tonight,” he said.
As some of his supporters booed her name, he held up his hand to ask they stop.
He closed by sticking to his message and reiterating that the effort is about everyone.
“Thank you all, the struggle continues,” he said.
Despite Sanders’ words to supporters tonight, the campaign reportedly will lay off half of its staff on Wednesday. The candidate himself will meet with President Obama Thursday — a discussion which no doubt will be focused on trying to bring Bernie around to get with the party and rally around presumptive nominee Hillary.
The end is near.
Source: Allen West
