Clinton takes a victory lap
Dem pads delegate lead with N.J. win; Sanders takes N.D.
Her rival, Bernie Sanders, marked a win of his own, prevailing in the North Dakota Democratic caucuses, according to The Associated Press. There are four more contests still to be decided in this second-to-last week of the primary season, among them Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota.
But the biggest prize, by far, was California, which offered 475 pledged delegates, nearly twice as many as the other states combined.
But beyond those numbers, California took on overriding symbolic import.
It became, in effect, the last battleground of the grinding Democratic contest, a chance for Clinton to punctuate her climb to the nomination with a capstone victory in the nation's most populous and diverse state — or for Sanders to raise new doubts about her political durability.
By winning California, Sanders and his supporters argued, the Vermont senator could roar into the party's July convention in Philadelphia with the momentum to reverse Clinton's lead in pledged delegates and court enough superdelegates — the party's free agents — to wrestle the nomination away.
But the already steep odds he faced grew considerably steeper when AP reported Monday night that Clinton had secured the 2,383 delegates needed to claim a first-ballot victory at the convention in Philadelphia. Her total includes pledged delegates and superdelegates.
Seizing the nomination from the front-runner at this point would be unprecedented in modern times.
In a confederation of silence, however, the rivals carried on as though the outcome was still in doubt. Clinton downplayed the AP report, lest it hurt voter turnout Tuesday, and Sanders ignored it altogether.
But the beginning of the end was at hand, with the only question being how vigorously Sanders would challenge the outcome and what, in turn, he might leverage in the process.
After holding back for months, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi endorsed Clinton even before the first polls closed Tuesday and nudged Sanders to get behind the party's presumptive nominee.
“Bernie knows better than anyone what's on the line in the election and that we at some point have to unify as we go forward,” the San Francisco Democrat said on ABC.
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a superdelegate and Clinton supporter, offered the same counsel.
“After Tuesday, there needs to be an understanding that Sanders goes to the convention with major clout and becomes a major Democratic player — but Hillary Clinton becomes the nominee and gets his support,” Richardson said.
Sanders, who has spent most of his decades in politics outside the Democratic Party as a democratic socialist, proved a much stronger challenger than Clinton and even his own campaign expected.
He forced the front-runner to address issues he raised about campaign finance, economic inequality and the power and influence of Wall Street. He drew enormous crowds, became a hero to millennial voters and turned “Feel the Bern” into a pop culture mantra.
But he failed to overtake Clinton by every measure save, perhaps, the outspokenness and vociferous nature of his supporters.
Entering Tuesday's primaries, Clinton has won more contests than Sanders, 28-23. She received 3 million more votes than he did. She also led him in both pledged delegates and unbound superdelegates.
Still Sanders pressed on, for months after simple mathematics made clear it would be all but impossible for him to overtake Clinton.
Clinton was waiting until most of the voting was complete Tuesday night before fully reveling in becoming the first woman nominated by a major U.S. political party. She addressed supporters at a victory party in Brooklyn, N.Y.
After Tuesday's coast-to-coast balloting, the primary season will end next week on a quiet note, when the District of Columbia holds its Democratic primary. Republicans in the nation's capital voted in March.
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