Primary season came to a conclusion yesterday (not counting the CA vote-counting, still underway). And, as seemed most likely from the start of the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton made history by becoming the very first woman to be a major party Nominee for the presidency of the United States. It was quite the moment. Bernie Sanders, who had hoped to win most if not all of the 6 states voting yesterday, eked out victories in just 2 states while Hillary won 4 states, including the all-important prize for the night - California. Hillary carried delegate-rich NJ by a 2-1 margin, continuing her successes in neighboring east coast states and, at this writing, leads Sanders in California by nearly 500,000 votes. The California system, including mail-in ballots, takes some time to count all votes, and, although Hillary's led may be reduced by some amount, the current returns have resulted in a far greater margin of victory for Hillary than was anticipated given recent polling data. Bernie Sanders placed a significant bet on carrying California and, though not a landslide, it appears that the Clinton campaign will win by a wide margin. As of sunrise today, Hillary carried the Pledged Delegates by a wide margin, the raw votes of Democrats by around 3.5 million votes, and continues to lead in Super Delegate head count by a crushing amount. By any measure, Hillary won every aspect of this election cycle and now faces Donald Trump in the fall race.
OK. So, both Trump and Clinton are the "presumptive" nominees of their respective parties. Translation - absent an earthquake, an arrest, or some other disaster visited on either or both candidates, these two will surely face each other in the fall race. Yes, there are still substantial Republican office holders and contributors who have distanced themselves from Trump (the Never-Trump crowd)... and, Trump continues to spew out some really shocking or, at least, unfortunate comments regarding the Judge in the Trump University matter. And, there are Bernie Democrats who maintain that they will never vote for Hillary. But, I must say here that the initial comparison weighs in Hillary's favor. Trump's penchant for self-inflicted wounds alienating various minority groups and women as well, certainly does not help his cause or attract the moderate independent voters that the Republicans will need if they hope to win the presidency. Hillary, on the other hand, must work with Bernie and his allies to heal the primary wounds on both sides and to forge an alliance with the young cadre' of Millennials, progressives, and the more liberal wing of the party, to cover the flank and do their best to capture the Senate and the House as well as the Presidency.
Meanwhile, Republican Speaker Paul Ryan released his Anti-Poverty plan. Senator Warren immediately took to the microphones (and megaphones as well) to denounce the plan as just a rehash of his past policy of protecting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, privatizing Social Security, slashing Medicaid and a variety of social supports for the poor. Its just the same old story - more tax cuts, less revenue, higher debt, and cuts to entitlement programs aimed at uplifting the poor out of poverty on the premise that we cannot afford it! Trickle down at its best from Ryan and racism and scapegoating from Trump - perfect together. Add a dash of the Koch brothers dark money to fund the attack dogs of the right under the color of the Supreme Court Citizens United decision, and you get the GOP's best chance to elect Trump and to lock up the Supreme Court for decades to come. Quite a horror show in my view.
Meetings of the leadership and strategists of both parties will take place over the next several weeks. The goal of these meetings is to plan a course and a campaign that will lead to victory for that party's candidates for president, Senate, and the House. Given the course of both campaign so far, I am keeping my fingers crossed that Hillary Clinton can succeed, that the Dems carry the Senate (more likely) and the House (less likely) majority, and that the American people survive the fall campaign process. If that happens, the pain of the 2015-2016 campaign will have been worth the discomfort, the pain, the outrage, and the shock of the Trump invasion into our politics and into our homes. And, maybe then, the United States can get past the gridlock of the past 8 and more years, and focus on the business of the American people, rebuilding opportunity and infrastructure, forging new partnerships for progress economically and socially, and emphasizing equality for all persons, regardless of race, religion, ethic origin, or .... gender.
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