Hillary Clinton won four of the five Democratic primaries last night and all but secured the Democratic nomination. Yesterday was the last big day of multiple contests before Democrats conclude their primary voting in June and it was a big night for Clinton. She won Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware, and Sanders won in Rhode Island, the only open primary of the night. Although the senator from Vermont is not mathematically eliminated yet, he remains far behind and now faces nearly impossible odds as the nominating contest come to a close.
With the victories in those four contest, Clinton turns her sights to the Democratic National Convention, to be held in Philadelphia in July, and a possible general election race against Republican Donald Trump. Addressing a boisterous crowd of 1,300 in Philadelphia, Clinton asked Democrats to imagine a more hopeful, compassionate country “where love trumps hate.” Clinton then spoke to Sanders supporters, asking for unification of the party. She laid out a list of shared values, including reducing income inequality, college affordability and universal health coverage.
“Our campaign is about restoring people’s confidence in our ability to solve problems together,” Clinton said. “That’s why we’re setting bold, progressive goals backed up by real plans.” Adding that “after all, that is how progress is made,” she said. “We have to be both dreamers and doers.”
Yesterday’s outcome allowed Clinton to focus her campaign on the general election fight against Republicans which has been difficult of late because of the persistence of the Sanders’ well-funded and remarkably successful challenge. In her victory speech, Clinton included an appeal to moderate independent voters, who may be looking for an alternative in the general if the Republican nominee is Trump.
“If you are a Democrat, an independent or a thoughtful Republican, you know their approach is not going to build an America where we increase opportunity or decrease inequality,” Clinton said. “So instead of us letting them take us backwards we want America to be in the future business.”
With the big victory in last week’s New York Democratic primary, Clinton was able to hold on to the momentum and carry it over to Pennsylvania which was the largest state in play with 189 delegates. Clinton has routinely outpaced Sanders among registered Democrats, while Sanders, who has been an independent most of his political career, does well with unaffiliated voters. Clinton has increased her lead among pledge delegates from over 200 to roughly 300 after last night’s lopsided victories in delegate-rich Pennsylvania and Maryland. With 14 Democratic contests left and with Clinton having roughly 80 percent of the delegates needed to win the nomination, it is all but certain she will.
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