Wednesday, June 8, 2016

PKG: Bernie Sanders to meet Obama after refusing to concede defeat

In the United States, Senator Bernie Sanders will meet President Barack Obama at the White House after he refused to concede defeat at the hands of Hillary Clinton in the race to become the Democratic Party's Presidential nominee.


Mrs. Clinton has claimed victory, calling her win a "milestone" in the United States as she prepares to become the first woman to lead one of the country's two major parties in a Presidential race.


She's urging Senator Sanders' supporters to back her campaign and unify the Party around her candidacy.


But the Senator says it's too early for that.


With a look at Bernie Sanders' strategy, here's our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks.


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This hasn't been much of a year for conventional political wisdom in the United States.

And in case anyone thought all that was over, and the usual rules of the game would soon apply….Senator Bernie Sanders had news for them.

After the results of Tuesday's primaries became clear, and Hillary Clinton declared victory in her quest to become the Democrats' Presidential nominee….there was widespread speculation that Bernie Sanders would do what losing candidates always do in defeat…..and graciously concede.

It was not to be.


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That crowd egging him on are dyed-in-the-wool Sanders supporters, many of them totally energized by his left-wing agenda and his pledge to bring about a revolution in America based on income equality and ending the dominance enjoyed by big corporations.

And while the grandees of the Democratic Party say it's time for everyone to behave like grown-ups, throw their weight behind Hillary Clinton and unite….it certainly didn't sound like the people surrounding Senator Sanders were very close to doing that.


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The boos and jeers notwithstanding, Hillary Clinton made her play to try and get the Sanders team to bury the hatchet.


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But if Senator Sanders is ever going to endorse her campaign for the Presidency, it won't come until after his meeting at the WhiteHouse in a few hours time with Barack Obama.

And it may not come until the Democratic Party's convention in Philadelphia where Senator Sanders, controlling over a third of the delegates, is expected to try and push the party's manifesto to the left.

He may also seek to change the rules governing the party's primary elections to make life a little easier for the next left-wing candidate who wants to seek the Presidency.


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Norman Solomon is one of the delegates who will head to Philadelphia unshakeable in his loyalty to Bernie Sanders.

He told the campaigning TV program "Democracy Now" that the Democratic Party shouldn't think it can take core left-wingers for granted.


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At Democratic Party headquarters, talk like that leads to much eye-rolling.

They are confident that when election day dawns, Bernie Sanders' supporters will get out of bed and vote for Hillary Clinton in order to stop Donald Trump from getting to the White House.

But that is a gamble…and one thing is clear:  Bernie Sanders is not going quietly into the night.


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