Clinton had her historic moment. Next up: Get Sanders supporters on board
Now comes the hard part. Or maybe the harder part.
Having made history as the first woman to lead a major-party ticket, Hillary Clinton now enters a critical period of trying to cement her status in Democrats’ hearts and minds, not just with delegate math. To unite the party for a general election campaign against political wild card Donald Trump, she must navigate the bruised feelings of the eager supporters of rival Bernie Sanders, who pledged late Tuesday in Santa Monica to fight her all the way to the party’s convention.
Eight years ago, when Clinton herself came up just short in the Democratic primary race for delegates, it took days of ego-smoothing and behind-the-scenes negotiations before she offered a robust endorsement of then-Sen. Barack Obama.
Both the Clinton campaign and the Obama White House appear to be proceeding carefully as Sanders plots his next steps.
In a triumphant and emotional victory speech Tuesday, Clinton appeared ready to give time to her opponent — and his passionate following. Clinton herself said she would use the days ahead “to fully absorb the history we’ve made.”
Hillary Clinton speech highlights
“It never feels good to put your heart into a cause or a candidate you believe in — and to come up short. I know that feeling well,” she said. “But as we look ahead to the battle that awaits, let’s remember all that unites us.”
President Obama spoke with both candidates Tuesday, the White House said, congratulating each for the races they’d run, but particularly Clinton for securing the nomination.
But in a show of deference to the Vermont senator, Obama accepted Sanders’ request to meet Thursday at the White House.
Sanders, for now at least, is pressing ahead with plans to compete in the final primary battle of the year, in the District of Columbia. His own remarks Tuesday, though, indicated his campaign is about issues as much as about his own shot at the presidency.
“Our fight is to transform this country and to understand that we are in this together,” he said, “to understand that all of what we believe is what the majority of the American people believe and to understand that the struggle continues.”
Bernie Sanders addressed his supporters after Tuesday’s primaries. Here are the highlights from his speech.
As Sanders contemplates his path forward, his allies are working to preempt any efforts to push him aside.
“The very least the Democratic establishment can do, as it did for Hillary Clinton in 2008, is provide Bernie Sanders the time and the space he needs to determine the best steps he can take to help unite our party,” Jim Dean, chairman of Democracy for America, which endorsed Sanders, said in a statement Tuesday.
Clinton must “define what the path to Democratic unity looks like,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in an interview.
“Does she call for Sanders supporters to get in line and have party unity for its own sake? Or does she promise to unify millions of Sanders and Clinton supporters around a big, bold, progressive agenda that will inspire Sanders supporters and general election voters?” said Green, whose group styles itself as the “Elizabeth Warren wing” of the Democratic Party but was neutral in the race. “That will impact Sanders’ next moves … in a really big way.”
Democrats are eager to quickly turn to the fight against presumed GOP nominee Trump. Clinton already has announced plans to campaign next week in two November battlegrounds, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Obama, who delivered a blistering critique of Trump and the GOP as a whole last week, heads to New York on Wednesday for party fundraisers and an appearance on “The Tonight Show,” as senior officials prepare for a formal endorsement.
Sanders will make his own decision on his own timeline, predicted Stephanie Schriock, president of the EMILY’s List fundraising group, which endorsed Clinton.
“He understands the stakes and will take that very seriously,” she said.
“This is a time where not just Democrats, but independents and moderate Republicans — Republicans with common sense — have to come together, because the stakes are so incredibly high,” she said.
For more campaign coverage, follow @mikememoli on Twitter.
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