WASHINGTON — 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.
“We’re going to have a wide-ranging conversation, because we share a lot of the same goals,” Clinton told Telemundo. “We both want to raise the minimum wage, we want to fight inequality of income, we want to make college affordable and we certainly want everybody to get health care.”
She added, “I very much am looking forward to having his support in this campaign, because Donald Trump poses a serious threat to our nation.”
Before polls closed in Washington, Sanders vowed again to do all he can to prevent the presumptive Republican presidential nominee from reaching the White House – but he declined to endorse Clinton.
The two met for about 90 minutes Tuesday night at a Washington, D.C., hotel, but neither spoke to reporters afterward.
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.
“Our goal must not be to allow politicians, Donald Trump or anyone else, to divide us,” Sanders said outside his Washington headquarters, telling reporters he will continue to “fight as hard as we can” to transform the Democratic Party.
Sanders said he would push for new leadership in the Democratic National Committee – his campaign has sparred with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the party’s chair – along with a progressive platform in the summer convention and electoral changes, such as primaries that allow independents to participate and the elimination of superdelegates.
“We need major, major changes in the Democratic Party,” he said.
Sanders was warmly received Tuesday by Senate Democrats at their weekly luncheon, where he offered an update about his campaign and some of the lessons he had learned during the past year. Lawmakers in attendance said Sanders did not indicate his future plans.
“He had an opportunity to talk to us about his campaign and how it has changed him and what he has learned,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. “I think we all listened intently because we are anxious to always do better and grow as a party and be more inclusive.”
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who leads the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, said Sanders “absolutely will” support fellow Senate Democrats in the fall elections. “It was productive, it was good, it was vintage Bernie,” Tester said.
Sanders met last week with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who both later endorsed Clinton, and signaled to Democrats that he hopes to play a constructive role in helping the party regain control of the Senate in the 2016 elections.
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