Clinton wins last primary with big issue now of who will be running mate

Hillary Clinton brought a close to the presidential primary season with a win Tuesday in the nation’s capital and a meeting with dispatched rival Bernie Sanders, hoping to set a tone of Democratic unity heading into next month’s party convention in Philadelphia. Clinton’s win in the District of Columbia, the final primary of 2016, had no bearing on her role as the presumptive nominee, but it nevertheless marked a transition in the lengthy primary fight between the two rivals. In virtually identical statements released after meeting for more than 90 minutes, the Clinton and Sanders campaigns said the two rivals discussed their primary campaign, “unifying the party and … the dangerous threat that Donald Trump poses to our nation”.

Our goal must not be to allow politicians, Donald Trump or anyone else, to divide us,

Bernie Sanders

Before polls closed in Washington, where Clinton won with nearly 80 percent of the vote, Sanders vowed again to do all he can to prevent Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, from reaching the White House — but he declined to endorse Clinton. The Vermont senator had said the private meeting would help him determine how committed Clinton will be to the policy issues he has staked out during his 13-month campaign. Political commentators are speculating she will choose Sanders as her vice-presidential running mate but much will depend just how much of his policies she is willing to adopt. The self-described democratic socialist says he will take his campaign to the convention in July and advocate for his policy issues in the platform while urging Democrats to be more inclusive of independents, young people and working-class voters, all of whom were pivotal in his victories in 22 states.

Clinton Sanders