The District of Columbia held the final primary of the year, which Hillary won by 57%, and a long year it was starting with Iowa on February 1st. Since the campaigns began in April of 2015 the media has often reported nonsense and skewed their coverage depending on the prevailing winds and what often appeared to be personal biases.
Democrats held 57 primaries and caucuses; Hillary Clinton won 34 and Bernie Sanders won 23. What the media failed to make clear throughout the process is for a Democratic candidate it is nearly impossible to get the needed delegates for nomination with only pledged delegates. They kept reporting on the size of the crowds attending some of Senator Sanders' rallies as if that meant he was winning.
The media hyped what Senator Sanders called his 'revolution' without bothering to research if it was actually happening. A simple look at voting patterns and comparisons to the last Democratic contested primaries in 2008 would have put an end to that line of inaccurate reporting. Senator Sanders didn't bring out a whole slew of additional new voters.
The total number of people who voted in Democratic contests in 2016 was 27,834,835. Clinton got 15,805,136 and Sanders 12,029,699 so Clinton had nearly 4 million more votes than Sanders. Compare that to the Clinton/Obama contest in 2008 when the total votes cast were 35,915,549 split evenly with about 18 million each. Clearly Sanders didn't excite more voters to come out. One could even make the case many Hillary voters stayed home because after Super Tuesday in March, even if the media didn't acknowledge it, they understood Hillary would be the nominee.
If there was a 'revolution' it was Hillary's as many would consider her being the first woman in 240 years to be the nominee of a major political party in the United States and the odds-on favorite to be our 45th President the real revolution. Let us not forget we still can't pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) putting women into the Constitution. Clinton's win would bring smiles to the faces of those women who began the 'revolution' as suffragettes with the Declaration of Sentiments in Seneca Falls and continued it with strong women like Shirley Chisholm, Geraldine Ferraro and Bella Abzug.
The media continuously reported there was no passion for Hillary assuming 16 million who voted for her did so without passion. Well they got my vote wrong as it was done with total passion for Hillary and I know many of the 16 million others felt the same.
Looking back 2008 was an even harsher campaign between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton than this year's between Sanders and Clinton. The attacks were stronger and in some cases more personal. But the difference is apparent in how this year's campaign is ending. On June 7, 2008 after a tough campaign Hillary Clinton spoke to her supporters making a graceful exit from the primaries and giving her full endorsement to Barack Obama including asking her supporters to do the same. She then campaigned her heart out for him.
So far this year we aren't seeing anything like it from Bernie Sanders. He continues to suggest he has led a revolution without any proof he has. On the afternoon of his losing the final primary he sounded like an angry old man repeating his stump speech and attacking the Democratic Party of which he isn't even a member. He gave no indication at all were it not for the Democratic Party he couldn't have run. They opened their doors and their voter files to him. It was a performance totally lacking in grace.
It is not the issues he talks about aren't valid but as so many have said it's not enough to recite a litany of problems without having any real solutions to solving them. A NY Times columnist said it best when suggesting Sanders is the Windows 95 of politicians. As of the end of the campaign he is the past and others will be responsible for finding the solutions for the 21st Century to the problems he brings up.
Hopefully after his meeting with Secretary Clinton on Tuesday evening, which they both said was productive, he will lick his wounds, assess his future, and join with President Obama, Senator Warren and all the others in the Democratic Party who will be working their hearts out for Secretary Clinton. What Senator Sanders has said is we must ensure Donald Trump never gets anywhere near the White House. What he now has to accept is Hillary Clinton is the only one that can keep him from getting there.