Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are still fighting to become the Democratic nominee for the upcoming presidential election. Recently, that “fight” is starting to look like more of a victory for Clinton after the Associated Press announced that she had secured the necessary 2,383 delegates, pledged and unpledged, to clinch the nomination. However, that tally includes superdelegates, who do not officially cast their votes until July and may change their minds at any time between now and then.
Even so, the Huffington Post reports that the former secretary of state has a high probability of becoming the first woman presidential nominee for a major political party—so why hasn’t President Obama endorsed Hillary yet?
Apparently, Barack Obama has been waiting it out to see who would actually become the nominee for his party. CNN reported that the White House could throw their support behind Clinton as early as the end of this week, after the last round of primary contests finish up Tuesday night. “I think we’ll probably have a pretty good sense next week of who the nominee will end up being,” said Obama last Wednesday in Indiana. “There’s going to be plenty of time for me to step in and campaign.”
As for Hillary Clinton, her campaign was hesitant to claim victory just yet and continues in its efforts to unify the Democratic party behind the candidate. “Obviously I’m excited about having the President’s support,” Clinton said Monday, according to CNN. “I have said throughout this campaign I was honored to serve in the President’s cabinet as his secretary of state.”
Many Democratic voters and politicians view the president’s impending support for Clinton as a way to use his newfound popularity to unite the Democratic party against the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
Even after the AP made its announcement, the Senator Sanders campaign vowed to continue fighting. Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs made the point that Clinton has not yet received the majority of pledged delegates, only superdelegates, needed to truly clinch the nomination. “It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgment, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee’s clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer,” Briggs said in a statement.
With the last states voting in their primaries Tuesday, delegate-rich California may serve as the threshold to truly determine which candidate will officially secure the Democratic nomination and, possibly, the White House’s support.