NEW YORK: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton marked her place in American history Tuesday night, declaring victory in the Democratic presidential race.
“Thanks to you, we’ve reached a milestone,” she told cheering supporters in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, saying for the “first time in our nation’s history” a woman would lead a major-party ballot.
Clinton hit the magic number of 2,383 delegates needed to clinch the nomination on Monday night, as news organizations called the race for her based on support from superdelegates “party leaders and elected officials who have a vote at the convention and pledged to back her over his party rival, Senator Bernie Sanders.
“Tonight caps an amazing journey” a long, long journey,” Clinton said, nearly a century after women won the right to vote nationwide. “We all owe so much to those who came before, and tonight belongs to all of you.”
Clinton waited until six states held a final round of contests Tuesday to declare victory, which will solidify her lead in pledged delegates earned through primaries and caucuses as well as her advantage in the overall popular vote.
Clinton picked up an easy win in New Jersey and also claimed victories in New Mexico and South Dakota. Sanders, meanwhile, was projected the winner in the North Dakota caucuses. Pre-primary polls showed a tight race in California, the biggest prize on the primary calendar, though early returns showed Clinton in the lead. Montana also held a Democratic contest Tuesday.
Clinton celebrated with supporters at Brooklyn Navy Yard and highlighted the historic nature of her win.
“Tonight’s victory is not about one person,” Clinton said. “It belongs to generations of women and men who struggled and sacrificed and made this moment possible.”
A video that played prior to her speech spliced images of pivotal moments in the fight for women’s equality in the US “from the suffragettes and the women’s liberation movement” with shots of her climbing stairs to address supporters.
The White House released a statement late Tuesday night saying that President Barack Obama called both Clinton and Sanders, congratulating them “for running inspiring campaigns” and Clinton for hitting the magic number of delegates needed to secure the Democratic nod. The statement also said Clinton and Sanders would meet at the White House on Thursday.
An endorsement of Clinton by the president is expected as early as this week.
But Sanders has vowed to fight all the way to the nominating convention in Philadelphia, yet he is already coming under pressure from party officials to concede “the way Clinton did in her campaign against then-senator Barack Obama in June 2008” with Clinton’s lead over Sanders more than double the advantage Obama had at the same time.
In her speech Tuesday night, Clinton made a direct appeal to the working-class voters who’ve been supporting Sanders and Trump. “So many of you feel like you’re out there on your own, that no one has your back” well I do.”
Source: Agencies
