Bernie Sanders still battling Hillary Clinton, ‘not all my supporters go to fancy fundraising dinners’
Hillary Clinton may still be the Democratic frontrunner the Presidential nomination, but Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is not only staying in the race, but will be calling on superdelegates to switch their support, especially after primaries on June 7 in New Jersey and California.
“The last I heard is that we are a democratic country, and that elections are about vigorous debates over the issues. Secretary Clinton and I disagree,” Sanders told Jake Tapper Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“What the Democratic leadership has got to understand is that not all of my supporters go to these fancy fundraising dinners. They’re working people who are hurting now, who want real change in the economy.”
He added: “I hope the Democratic leadership understands they have to open up the process, bring those people in.”
Clinton leads Sanders 1,768 to 1,494 with 939 delegates still available. Clinton’s reported “big lead” or “presumptive” status as the nominee is rooted in the superdelegate process, which Clinton leads 525-39.CNN notes Sanders has “rebuked Democratic superdelegates — party office holders and lawmakers who can vote however they choose at the convention — for overwhelmingly coming out for Clinton early on in what he said was an ‘anointment’ by the establishment and big money interests.”
“I will be the nominee for my party,” Clinton told CNN’s Chris Cuomo in an interview last week. “That is already done, in effect. There is no way I won’t be.”
She said there will be an “obvious need of us to unify the party” once she becomes the presumptive nominee.
“I will certainly do my part, reaching out to Sen. Sanders, reaching out to his supporters,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And I expect him to do his.”
The socialist from Vermont has surprised many by keeping pace with the former New York senator, Secretary of State and First Lady. That said, Clinton said that it’s “fair to say that I have been vetted and tested, and I think that that puts me in a very strong position.
Referring to Sanders, she said, “let me say that I don’t think he’s had a single negative ad ever run against him.”
Sanders disputed the notion that he is only doing better than Clinton because he has not had to endure the years of partisan warfare that have shredded her approval ratings.
“Any objective assessment of our campaign versus Clinton’s campaign, I think, will conclude we have the energy, we have the excitement, we have the young people, we have the working people, we can drive a large voter turnout, so that we not only win the White House, but we retain, regain control of the Senate, do well in the House and in governor’s chairs up and down the line,” Sanders told Tapper.
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