As Clinton wraps up Democratic nomination, Sanders still fighting on

BY JAMES OLIPHANT-Wed Jun 8, 2016

With the Democratic presidential nomination effectively wrapped up, Hillary Clinton's campaign urged supporters to head to the polls in Tuesday's nominating contests in hopes that victories will persuade rival Bernie Sanders to bow out of the race.

Clinton secured enough delegates to win the nomination before Tuesday's voting, U.S. media outlets reported on Monday night. But Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said they were pushing supporters and volunteers to "stay at this" for the contests in New Jersey, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico and California - where she still risks a loss to Sanders.

"We're on the verge of making history, and we're going to celebrate that tonight," Mook told CNN. "There's a lot of people we want to make sure turn out today. We do not want to send a message that anybody's vote doesn't count."

A former U.S. secretary of state, Clinton would be the first woman presidential candidate of a major U.S. political party. She wants to move beyond the primary battle and turn her attention to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and the Nov. 8 election.

But despite growing pressure from party luminaries for him to exit the race, Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont who describes himself as a democratic socialist, has vowed to stay in until next month's party convention that formally picks the nominee.

California is the biggest prize on Tuesday - the last and largest state to vote in what became a surprisingly tough Democratic primary race.

If Sanders, who was trailing in polls in California until recently, won the state, it would not be enough for him to catch Clinton in the overall delegate count, but it could fuel his continued presence in the race.

"We will look forward tonight to marking having reached the threshold of a majority of the pledged delegates,” Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon told CNN, referring to delegates won in primary contests. "And at that point, Bernie Sanders will be out of our race."

Sanders has commanded huge crowds, galvanizing younger voters with promises to address economic inequality. But Clinton has edged him out, particularly among older voters, with a more pragmatic campaign focussed on building on President Barack Obama's policies.

Steven Acosta, a 47-year-old teacher living in Los Angeles, voted for Clinton on Tuesday, saying this was partly because he believes she stands a better chance of winning in November.

"I like what Bernie Sanders says and I agree with almost everything that he says," Acosta said. "The problem is that I think Republicans would really unify ... even more against him."

'RUSH TO JUDGEMENT'

Sanders was determined to stay in the race, even after the Associated Press and NBC reported on Monday night that Clinton had clinched the number of delegates needed to win the nomination. A Sanders campaign spokesman castigated what he said was the media's "rush to judgement."

Under Democratic National Committee rules, most delegates to the July 25-28 convention are awarded by popular votes in state-by-state elections, and Clinton has a clear lead in those "pledged" delegates.