Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager says there will be a Democratic presidential nominee on Wednesday after a handful of states vote on Tuesday, while commending Sen. Bernard Sanders for bring new people into the process and raising important issues.
“We’re going to have a nominee tomorrow. It’s going to be time for our party to start to come together and make sure that we rally behind our nominee,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said Tuesday on CNN’s “New Day.”
“We’re on the verge of making history, and we’re going to celebrate that tonight,” he said.
Mrs. Clinton reached the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination on Monday, according to a tally from The Associated Press.
But Mr. Mook said they don’t want to send a message that anybody’s vote doesn’t count. A handful of states, including California, are holding elections on Tuesday.
Mr. Sanders’ campaign said Mrs. Clinton still won’t have the necessary number of pledged delegates and said his job now is to win over superdelegates, which are party leaders who can support either candidate.
SEE ALSO: Hillary Clinton reaches number of delegates needed to clinch Democratic nomination
Asked about the prospect of Mr. Sanders’ winning California and pledging to take his fight to the Democratic convention, Mr. Mook said he didn’t want to “fixate on hypotheticals.”
“As I said, we are going to have a nominee tomorrow,” he said.
“I think what would be wrong to ignore right now is the incredible organization that Senator Sanders and his supporters have built, and how important that organization and that movement is to defeating Donald Trump this fall,” he said.
“Senator Sanders and his campaign have achieved incredible things,” he said. “They [have] brought so many people into this process.”
“They’ve registered new voters, they’ve brought in new donors, the amount of money that he [has] raised online — these resources, these people are going to be so important to winning the general election,” he said.
Mr. Mook said Mr. Sanders has raised important issues like income inequality, universal health care, and addressing college debt.
“His voice is an important part of this movement, not only to elect a progressive leader into the White House but to stop Donald Trump,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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