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Today’s Hillary News & Views covers Clinton’s decisive victories in yesterday’s series of primaries.
Here is the transcript of her victory speech, via Blog 4 President:
Wow. Thank you, Pennsylvania! What a night. I want to thank everyone – I want to thank everyone.
Thank you all so much. Wow. I just want to thank all of you, everyone who came out to vote here in Pennsylvania and across Maryland and Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island. I am so grateful to all our volunteers, our organizers, our community leaders. Everyone who worked their hearts out.
And I want to thank the leaders here in Pennsylvania. Thank you, Governor Wolf. Thank you, Senator Casey. Thank you, Congressman Cartwright. And thank you so much, Mayor Kenney, for your great help. And of course, I want to thank the 42nd President of the United States, my husband.
Now, with your help, we’re going to come back to Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention with the most votes and the most pledged delegates and we will unify our party to win this election and build an America where we can all rise together – an America where we lift each other up instead of tearing each other down.
So we need you to keep volunteering. Keep talking to your friends and neighbors. Please join the more than 1.1 million people who’ve already contributed at hillaryclinton.com.
I know there are still too many barriers holding too many Americans back. But despite what other candidates say, we believe in the goodness of our people and the greatness of our nation. And if anyone doubts that, just let them travel across this country, as I’ve done in this campaign the past year, hearing people’s stories, learning about their struggles.
Listen to the quiet determination of the working parents I met last week in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. They are doing everything they can to provide opportunities to their children in an economy where there still aren’t enough good-paying jobs.
Listen to the mothers who lost children to gun violence and encounters with the police. They’re turning their sorrow into strategy and their mourning into a movement – a movement for justice and dignity.
Listen to the nurse I met this weekend in New Haven, Connecticut, who worked for years to build a middle-class life and raise a family. But then, her luck changed. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and used up all her savings and her sick time. Soon, she was facing foreclosure and the prospect of losing the home she’d loved for more than 20 years. And here’s what she said to me: 'My daughter and I live in fear of the day that we might come home and have a lock on the door… We’re in pain. We’re hurting… We were, and are, the backbone of this country – the middle class. We’re not asking for a handout. We just want to be treated fairly.'
And she is speaking for so many people across our country who feel beaten down, left out and left behind. People who have worked hard and done their part, but just can’t seem to get ahead, and find it tough even to get by.
Now, underneath all those worries together, we are going to come together and we are going to solve the problems we face.
And I am aware that too many people feel at the mercy of forces too big for anyone to control, and they just worry that those of us in politics put our own interests ahead of the national interest.
The faith that we can make things better, that we can give our kids a better future than we had, is at the heart of who we are as a nation. And it’s one of many reasons that being American has always been such a blessing.
And our campaign is about restoring people’s confidence in our ability to solve problems together – by delivering results that help people follow their own dreams. That’s why we’re setting bold, progressive goals backed up by real plans that will improve lives. After all, that is how progress gets made. We have to be both dreamers and doers.
And as a great Democratic President once said, 'There is nothing wrong with America that can’t be cured by what’s right with America.' I believe we can create more good jobs with rising incomes, jobs that provide dignity, pride and a middle-class life. We can renew our democracy by overturning Citizens United. We can lift up people and places who’ve been left out, from our inner cities to Appalachia, in every manufacturing town hollowed out when the factory closed, every community scarred by substance abuse, every home where a child goes to bed hungry. That’s what we Democrats believe in. That’s what we know is possible.
So we will build on a strong progressive tradition from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama. And I applaud Senator Sanders and his millions of supporters for challenging us to get unaccountable money out of our politics and giving greater emphasis to closing the gap of inequality. And I know, together, we will get that done.
Because whether you support Senator Sanders or you support me, there’s much more that unites us than divides us. We all agree that wages are too low and inequality is too high. That Wall Street can never again be allowed to threaten Main Street. And we should expand Social Security, not cut or privatize it.
We Democrats agree that college should be affordable to all and student debt shouldn’t hold anyone back. We Democrats agree that every single American should and must have quality, affordable health care.
We agree that our next president must keep our country safe, keep our troops out of another costly ground war in the Middle East.
And we Democrats agree that climate change is an urgent threat. And it requires an aggressive response that can make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century.
And we Democrats agree on defending all of our rights – civil rights and voting rights, workers’ rights and women’s rights, LGBT rights and rights for people with disabilities.
So in this election, we will have to stand together and work hard to prevail against candidates on the other side who would threaten all those rights and pit Americans against each other.
They would make it harder to vote, not easier. They would deny women the right to make our own reproductive health care decisions. They would round up millions of hardworking immigrants and deport them. They would demonize and discriminate against hardworking, terror-hating Muslim Americans who we need in the fight against radicalization. And both of the top candidates in the Republican Party deny climate change even exits.
Now, the other day, Mr. Trump accused me of playing the, quote, 'woman card.' Well, if fighting for women’s health care and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the 'woman card,'then deal me in.
So, my friends, 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. So instead of letting them take us backwards, we want America to be in the future business.
That’s why I want you to keep imagining a tomorrow where instead of building walls, we are breaking down barriers – we are making it more likely that Americans will be part of a prosperous, inclusive, decent society.
We’re imagining a tomorrow where every parent can find a good job and every grandparent can enjoy a secure retirement.
We’re imagining a tomorrow where no child grows up in the shadow of discrimination or under the specter of deportation. And where every child has a good teacher and a good school, no matter what ZIP code that child lives in.
And imagine a tomorrow where any young person can graduate from college debt-free.
Or imagine a tomorrow where hard work is honored, families are supported, streets are safe and communities are strong, and where love trumps hate. That is the future I want. I want that future for my granddaughter and for all of our children and grandchildren.
Now, think of this. Our nation was born right here in Philadelphia. Our Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed just a few blocks away. And ever since – even through dark and difficult chapters of our history – the idea of America has shone through. At our best, we are, as Robert Kennedy said, 'a great country, an unselfish country and a compassionate country.'
But America’s greatness is not a birthright. It must be earned by every generation.
So please join us. Join us. Go to hillaryclinton.com. Text JOIN, 4-7-2-4-6. Volunteer, contribute. Let’s go forward. Let’s win the nomination and in July let’s return as a unified party. Thank you all so much.
Here are some analysis pieces about her victories last night.
Vox reports:
"I applaud Senator Sanders and his millions of supporters for challenging us to get unaccountable money out of our politics and giving greater emphasis to closing the gap of inequality," Clinton said in her speech. "And I know together, we will get that done. Because whether you support senator Sanders or you support me, there's much more that unite us than divides us."
"That's why we're setting bold progressive goals, backed up by real plans that will improve lives. After all, that is how progress gets made. We have to be both dreamers and doers," she continued, then moved to a nod at a famous line of her husband, Bill's. "And as a great Democratic president once said, there is nothing wrong with America that can't be cured by what's right with America."
But now, Clinton is turning her attention to the Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who has started to throw some punches at Clinton saying she only has "the woman card" to play in the general election.
"Mr. Trump accused me of playing the, quote, woman card. Well, if fighting for women's health care and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in," Clinton said.
FiveThirtyEight reports:
Clinton extended her delegate lead by what looks to be about 50 elected delegates. She did so thanks mostly to Maryland and Pennsylvania. She won by about 30-percentage points in Maryland (where she’ll pick up about 30 elected delegates) and more than 10 percentage points in Pennsylvania (where she’ll pick up about 20 elected delegates). Clinton will likely pick up a net of about 2 elected delegates in Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island combined.
Clinton did well tonight for the same reasons that she performed well in previous primaries. She won 68 percent or more of the black vote in Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania (Delaware and Rhode Island didn’t have exit polls). She also won two-thirds or more of voters making more than $200,000 in both Connecticut and Maryland (there was no $200,000+ crosstab in Pennsylvania).
Simply put, the contests tonight followed the already established demographic patterns of the Democratic race. That’s very bad for Sanders.
When you combine Clinton’s net 50 delegate victory tonight with the 235 elected delegate lead she had before tonight, Clinton holds a lead of about 285 elected delegates. That’s a huge lead. In order for Sanders to catch up, he’ll have to win 64 percent of the remaining elected delegates. That seems quite unlikely given the polling that is out there. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that barring a miracle, Clinton will have more elected delegates at the end of the primary season than Sanders.
Add in Clinton’s even larger edge among superdelegates, and Clinton is the presumptive nominee. That was mostly clear before tonight, and it’s crystal clear now.
Washington Post reports:
In the last big day of multiple contests before Democrats conclude their primary voting in June, Clinton won Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware, and Sanders won in tiny Rhode Island, the only state where independents could vote in the Democratic contest.
Overall, Sanders picked up a fraction of the delegates awarded to Clinton.
While not mathematically eliminated, the liberal senator from Vermont, whose outsider campaign captured a current of Democratic discontent, remains far behind and now faces nearly impossible odds as the nominating contest draws to a close.
Clinton all but declared victory over Sanders on Tuesday, turning her sights to the Democratic National Convention, to be held here in July, and a possible general election race against Republican Donald Trump.
Tuesday’s performance allows Clinton to reposition her campaign for the general election fight against Republicans in ways that have been difficult to do while fending off Sanders’s persistent, well-funded and remarkably successful challenge.
Her speech Tuesday included an appeal to moderate independent voters, who Democrats believe may be looking for a home in a general election 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.”
Associated Press reports:
Hillary Clinton rolled to victory in four more states Tuesday, putting her 90 percent of the way toward clinching the Democratic presidential nomination.
The Democratic front-runner expanded her all-but-unstoppable march with wins in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Delaware. But Bernie Sanders stopped her from sweeping the night with a win in Rhode Island.
Already, Clinton can lose every remaining primary by a wide margin and still capture her party's nomination, according to an Associated Press analysis.
Sanders would need to win more than 81 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates. He's only been winning 38 percent.
The Daily Beast reports:
As for the popular vote, she led it by a lot coming into Tuesday night: 10.4 million to 7.7 million, a nearly 2.7 million-vote difference, or 57 to 43 percent, numbers that we call a landslide in a general election. She may have added a couple hundred thousand to that margin tonight. Depending on what happens in California and New Jersey, this could end up being close to 60-40.
Is there precedent for the losing candidate demanding that the winning candidate prove her bona fides to his voters? I sure can’t think of any. The most recent precedent we have for this kind of thing is 2008, a contest that of course involved Hillary Clinton. Let’s have a look at how that one wound down.
Clinton did indeed run until the end, winning states all along the way. On the last day of voting, June 3, they drew—she took South Dakota, and he won Montana. At that point, depending on what you did or didn’t count (Michigan and Florida were weird races that year after they broke the DNC calendar to move their primary dates up, and the party punished them by taking away delegates), she was actually ahead of Obama on popular votes. But even excluding Michigan, where Obama wasn’t on the ballot, it was a hell of a lot closer than 57-43. It was 51-49.
Did Clinton carry on about her campaign of the people? Did she say it was incumbent upon Obama to prove his worth to her voters? Did she put her forefinger on her cheek for weeks and make Obama twist in the wind? No, of course not.
If this were two men, the onus would clearly be on the one who’s behind to play ball and do the responsible thing. But I can’t help suspecting that the media are going to put the weight on her in these next few weeks: Will Hillary accept Bernie’s conditions?
She shouldn’t accept conditions. But she absolutely should take steps to mollify his voters. She’s going to have to. However, she should do it like someone who’s ahead 57-43 should do it.
So now what? The race for the nomination is over, and we move to a general election footing. That means bringing Sanders supporters into the fold and making the case to undecided voters across the country. It means standing with our downballot candidates, so many of whom are women. (The Donna Edwards loss broke my heart last night.)
I don’t know for sure where HNV goes from here. It will reveal itself over time. But thank you so much to all of the readers and commenters who have been part of this journey, whether you were there from the beginning or joined us more recently. I’ve been reading Daily Kos since 2004 and been a member since 2006, but this series has made me feel part of the community in a way I never felt before. I’m so happy to be going into the general election with so many awesome new friends to work with!— Lysis
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Crossposted at HillaryHQ, an independent, progressive blog committed to the electing Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States.
