The Bernie Sanders campaign has released a press statement, and it reads like a concession of the nomination. Mind you, Bernie will stay in the race until California, that looks to be clear. The press release makes the point that they are going to try to get as many delegates as possible, take them to the convention to make claims on the party platform.
Here is the press release:
berniesanders.com/...
PRESS RELEASE
Sanders Statement on Primary Elections
APRIL 26TH, 2016
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday issued the following statement:
“I congratulate Secretary Clinton on her victories tonight, and I look forward to issue-oriented campaigns in the 14 contests to come.
“I am proud that we were able to win a resounding victory tonight in Rhode Island, the one state with an open primary where independents had a say in the outcome. Democrats should recognize that the ticket with the best chance of winning this November must attract support from independents as well as Democrats. I am proud of my campaign’s record in that regard.
“The people in every state in this country should have the right to determine who they want as president and what the agenda of the Democratic Party should be. That’s why we are in this race until the last vote is cast. That is why this campaign is going to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia with as many delegates as possible to fight for a progressive party platform that calls for a $15 an hour minimum wage, an end to our disastrous trade policies, a Medicare-for-all health care system, breaking up Wall Street financial institutions, ending fracking in our country, making public colleges and universities tuition free and passing a carbon tax so we can effectively address the planetary crisis of climate change.”
By saying that the campaign is “going to the Democratic National Convention with as many delegates as possible to fight for a progressive party platform” they make clear that they no longer believe that they can get the nomination, but that their goal now is to collect as many delegates as possible to have a strong voice at the convention.
I think that is a good thing. Bernie SHOULD have impact and a strong voice into the party platform, where both camps can agree (there is a lot of overlap, a lot of agreement, on quite a number of things as is).
Cooler heads seem to be prevailing tonight. Talk about trying to convince Super Delegates at the convention is gone. After tonight Hillary has close to a 300 delegate lead again, and there are 5 more states off the board. Realism is apparently setting in.
Congrats to Bernie for running a tough campaign that made more waves and got better results than most thought was possible. Now we can start looking at tamping down the animosity on our sides and move towards making these last remaining contests (14 in all) a show of Democratic and Dem-leaning Indie unity against the true mutual enemies: Trump, Cruz, Mitch McConnell, the entire GOP.