Tuesday was the official end date of the American primaries with the vote in the capital, Washington, D.C. As expected, Hillary Clinton was the winner.
Immediately after the vote, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate had a closed-door meeting with her main rival, Bernie Sanders, that lasted more than 90 minutes. Sanders, during the day, had announced that he was not ready yet to give his endorsement.
The meeting, described by both Democratic candidates as “positive,” had been widely promoted in recent days. Clinton’s staff had anticipated that the meeting with Sanders would focus on the progressive issues where their goals overlap, and the two agreed to continue working toward a common path forward.
The meeting ended just before 10:30 p.m., and both Clinton and Sanders left the Capital Hilton, not far from the White House, without speaking to reporters.
A few hours before meeting with the Democratic presidential candidate, Sanders held a press conference in front of his election headquarters in Washington, during which once again the senator from Vermont refused to give his endorsement, saying he would continue campaigning until the convention next month in Philadelphia, pushing for a “fundamental transformation” of the Democratic Party.
“The American people are hurting and badly hurting,” Sanders said. “They want real change, not the same old, same old.”
In his press conference, Sanders declared the priorities and political changes he would like to see, including new leadership of the Democratic National Committee, which, he said, did not focus enough on bringing new voters into the party. His other crucial point is to put in writing to the party’s platform a commitment to focus on workers and the poor.
To this, he added an effort to get rid of the superdelegates system that, according to the social democrat senator, favors the party’s elite. And to bring an authentic renewal within the Democrats, he called for switching to an open primary system, saying 3 million voters in New York were unable to cast their selection in the Democratic and Republican elections.
Sanders also added that his decision to stay in the race is not intended to jeopardize Clinton’s chances to defeat Trump this fall, but he wants the party and its candidate to fight for workers and the base of American citizens.
“We’re going to be bringing somewhere between 1,900 and 2,000 delegates to Philadelphia, and let me tell you what they want,” Sanders said. “They want to see the Democratic Party transformed. They want to see the Democratic Party stand up to the wealthy and powerful, and stand up for people who are hurting.”
His staff then announced that Sanders on Thursday evening will deliver a video speech live on his YouTube channel to explain how he intends to continue his political revolution.
“When we started this campaign, I told you that I was running not to oppose any man or woman, but to propose new and far-reaching policies to deal with the crises of our time,” Sanders said in an email sent to all his supporters to announce Thursday’s speech.
