Clinton endorsement imminent, Obama to sit down with Sanders

[webfact]

Clinton endorsement imminent, Obama to sit down with Sanders
JOSH LEDERMAN, Associated Press
KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the verge of endorsing Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama will pay tribute to Bernie Sanders' historic candidacy for presidency with an Oval Office meeting aimed at unifying the Democratic Party for a general election brawl with Donald Trump.

Sanders, the runner-up for the Democratic nomination, was heading Thursday to the White House under intense pressure to drop out and clear the way for Clinton. Though he showed signs he understood the end was near — he was laying off about half his team — he vowed to keep fighting for his movement, which Democratic leaders hope will evolve into a new base of support for Clinton.

Obama, who was expected to formally endorse Clinton following his midday meeting with Sanders, has sought to give the Vermont senator the courtesy of exiting the race on his own terms. On "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Wednesday night, he praised the Sanders campaign.

"It was a healthy thing for the Democratic Party to have a contested primary. I thought that Bernie Sanders brought enormous energy and new ideas," Obama said during a taped appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon". "And he pushed the party and challenged them. I thought it made Hillary a better candidate."

Obama planned to use the meeting, requested by Sanders, to discuss how to build on the enthusiasm Sanders brought to the primary and advance issues like income inequality and campaign finance reform that Sanders championed, the White House said. That's a diplomatic way of saying it's time for Sanders to pass the baton to Clinton, who declared victory over Sanders on Tuesday.

Now head to head in the presidential race, Clinton and Trump have one thing in common: Both are working to woo Sanders supporters once his campaign fully sputters. Trump has said he welcomes Sanders' voters "with open arms" while Clinton vowed to reach out proactively to voters who backed her opponent in the Democratic primary.

"He has said that he's certainly going to do everything he can to defeat Trump," Clinton said of Sanders in an Associated Press interview. "I'm very much looking forward to working with him to do that."

Trump, despite a string of victories this week that reaffirmed his place as the GOP nominee, was still working to convince wary Republicans that he's presidential material. Looking ahead to an upcoming speech attacking Clinton and her husband, Trump tried to turn the page following a dust-up over his comments about a Hispanic judge's ethnicity

That controversy and others before it have led prominent Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, to open chastise their party's nominee. Yet Trump's dominance in the GOP race was hard to overstate: He now has 1,542 delegates, including 1,447 required by party rules to vote for him at the convention. It takes just 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination.

For Sanders, any rationale for staying in the race grew murkier as even some of his staunchest supporters started looking to Clinton. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the one Senate Democrat to endorse Sanders, said Clinton was the nominee and offered his congratulations. And Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Sanders backer from Arizona, suggested the time to rally behind Clinton would come next week when the primary season concludes with the final contest in the District of Columbia.

"Bernie's going to do the right thing," Grijalva said Wednesday on the sidelines of discussions about the official Democratic Party platform.

Sanders, who also planned to meet Thursday with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, promised to continue his campaign through Tuesday's contest. But about half his campaign staff was being laid off, two people familiar with the plans said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the layoffs.

The task of persuading Sanders' supporters to fall in line falls largely to Obama, still one of the Democratic Party's most popular figures. Obama's aides have said he's itching to get off the sidelines and take on Trump, but the key question was whether voters who helped elected him twice would follow his lead now that he's not on the ballot.

There was little reason for overconfidence among Democrats, who've never seen that powerful coalition of minorities, young people and women reliably show up for candidates not named Obama.

"It's going to be hard to get African-American turnout as high as Obama got it, and to get youth turnout as high as Obama got it," said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster. "We have to work really hard."

___

Associated Press writers Erica Werner, Laurie Kellman and Lisa Lerer contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-06-09

[dageurreotype]

Christ what a terrible debacle this is. And the US has the gall to lecture Thailand on democracy

[sirineou]

An other nail in the casket of the democratic party. The republicans are not doing much better.

Time for a Major third party.

[Rancid]

Wonder what they'll talk about? Ambassador to UK, France, EU? How about some Hilary-like speaking engagements to haul in a few million? Supreme Court Judge, board of directors on a few Defense companies, what will Bernies' price be if he has one? Hilary's ascension must not be disrupted...

[Credo]

Christ what a terrible debacle this is. And the US has the gall to lecture Thailand on democracy

Democracies do not always chose the best leaders, but then neither does communism or dictatorships.

[sgtsabai]

What ever Obama offers, I doubt Bernie will accept. It will be nothing more than a ploy, a lie if you wish. The blue dawg corporate Democrats want him out of the way, yea as far away as possible. Bernie and the movement he started is not going away and will continue to be a thorn in Clinton's side for the next four years. He will focus his attention on electing progressive candidates to Congress and slamming the orange monster at every opportunity. Don't expect much campaigning or speaking for Clinton's side. I would expect much like Paul Ryan did with the orange monster, "I will vote for her". He and his supporters know they were cheated by the DNC/Clinton camp with collaboration by lame stream media. Bernie is everything Clintons and Obama aren't, nothing phony about him, no "Manchurian Candidate/President". Yes, this is the biggest debacle in a Presidential election, except maybe the 2 elections stolen by Cheney/Bush et al. Two candidates that should never even be elected dawg catcher in a one dog town. Not the lessor of 2 evils, 2 evils each different in their own way and both destructive for America and the world.

[ballpoint]

Christ what a terrible debacle this is. And the US has the gall to lecture Thailand on democracy

Democracies do not always chose the best leaders, but then neither does communism or dictatorships.

But those in a democracy should at least get the chance to choose the best leader. When it comes down to Trump or Clinton, it very much sounds like the majority of the people will have to choose between two people that they really don't want either of.

[Credo]

Christ what a terrible debacle this is. And the US has the gall to lecture Thailand on democracy

Democracies do not always chose the best leaders, but then neither does communism or dictatorships.

But those in a democracy should at least get the chance to choose the best leader. When it comes down to Trump or Clinton, it very much sounds like the majority of the people will have to choose between two people that they really don't want either of.

Well politics is a dirty business. Each side spends an inordinate amount of time trashing the other. Even the accomplishments are spun into negatives.

You can't wrestle with pigs and not come out with mud on you.

[Linzz]

The problem is that Obama putting his arm around Clinton and endorsing her as POTUS, cancels out his own appointees by driving a stake through the heart of the FBI investigation even though he promised there would be no interference. Even so he would still pardon Hillary regardless. He can't drop himself in it anyway since he also communicated state business on her unsecured computer.

[NovaBlue05]

It's official today. Obama endorses her while investigating her. Amazing what now passes for routine when the media has no journalistic curiosity.

[mopar71]

An other nail in the casket of the democratic party. The republicans are not doing much better.

Time for a Major third party.

At least Republicans are fighting or reluctantly supporting their flawed candidate.

The Democrats are thrilled to have Hillary to vote for. These really are people without shame.

[kamahele]

Christ what a terrible debacle this is. And the US has the gall to lecture Thailand on democracy

Why was this a debacle? Clinton won the popular vote by several million votes, won the delegate vote and has the support of the super delegates which in the end she doesn't need. This is a text book case of how democracy works. This is not to say the system doesn't have problems but this election was won fair and square.

[dageurreotype]

Christ what a terrible debacle this is. And the US has the gall to lecture Thailand on democracy

Democracies do not always chose the best leaders, but then neither does communism or dictatorships.

But that's the point. This is NOT democracy when a bunch of 'superdelegates', much alike Prayuth's plan to install a handpicked government. Tell me the difference? There isn't one. 'Vote'? Pfft.