Sanders Vows To Keep Fight For Nomination Alive After West Virginia Primary Win
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is vowing to "fight for every last vote'' after winning Tuesday's West Virginia primary.
The Vermont senator says he has no plans to exit the race, even though rival Hillary Clinton is just 145 delegates short of the 2,383 required to capture the nomination.
Sanders acknowledged at a campaign event in Salem, Oregon that his path is narrowing, but said he's used "to fighting uphill climbs.''
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"Let me be as clear as I can be. We are in this campaign to win the Democratic nomination," he said.
With 29 delegates at stake Tuesday, Sanders won 18 to Clinton's 11. That means based on primaries and caucuses to date, Clinton now has 1,716 and Sanders has 1,433.
He still needs to win 66 percent of the remaining primary and caucus delegates if he hopes to close the deficit.
But when including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton holds a much wider lead. She has 2,240 to Sanders' 1,473.
"It is a little bit weird that Secretary Clinton received support from 400 superdelegates before anybody else got into the race," Sanders said, "That is the establishment talking, not the American people talking."
CBS News estimates Clinton will likely reach the 2,383 needed to clinch the nomination in early June, unless Sanders manages to pull off a stunning upset.
Recognizing Sanders' impactful anti-establishment following it appears Hillary has taken a step left from her more centrist positions in order to become a more viable candidate.
She stepped left of Obamacare and said she's in favor of the public option to buy into Medicare.
In 2008, she said she was against lifting he $118,500 cap on taxable income for social security.
"If you lift the cap completely that is a $1-trillion tax increase. I don't think we need to do that," she said.
Debating Sanders in Brooklyn 8 years later she was open to the idea.
"I have said yes, We are going to pick the best way or combination," she said.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, Clinton was in south Jersey on Wednesday, but had an eye on the general election.
"I am not going to respond to the insults and attacks coming from Donald Trump in this campaign," she said.
This week, Clinton reportedly said she's looking into letting people 50 and older buy into the Medicare program. "Face the Nation" moderator John Dickerson said it shows Sanders is pushing Clinton to the left.
"We'll have to see how the fight goes with Donald Trump, but yes that's what it's done at least for the primary process," he said.
Clinton, meanwhile, already has her sights on the general election.
"With somebody like Donald Trump, you would see a race to the bottom with working families paying a price and I don't think that's a risk that we can afford," she said Tuesday in Kentucky.
Political analyst David Birdsell said he believes Clinton has locked in the nomination, but has shifted closer to Sanders' views to unify the party.
"She's not plausibly an anti-establishment even though she's said it on a number of occasions. You don't get much more establishment than Hillary Clinton, but she can pick up some of the fire by picking up some of those policies and that may be important for keeping a Democratic coalition together, energized, and actually going to voting booths come November," Birdsell said.
Clinton has floated around different options on some issues like social security, perhaps to give her some wiggle room as she moves towards the convention this summer.
Analysts said she will need the full support of the Democratic party if she wants to win in November.
As the only Republican left in the race, Trump also picked up wins Tuesday night in West Virginia and Nebraska.
He's getting ready for his meeting Thursday with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who last week said he wasn't ready to support the presumptive nominee.
"I have a lot of respect for Paul and I think we're going to have a very good meeting, I hope," Trump said.
Wednesday morning, Ryan said the two need to get to know each other and the process is just getting started.
"After a tough primary, that's gonna take some effort," he said. "We are committed to putting that effort in. I want to be a part of that unifying process so that we're at full strength this fall so we can win this election."
Trump heads to Long Island on Wednesday while Clinton campaigns in New Jersey in the afternoon.
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