Bernie Sanders Keeps Widening Lead on Hillary Clinton

“We are fighting here in SC as hard as we can but within the context, you know, I think Secretary Clinton was in California the other day, I mean she is writing off the state, that’s the real world that we are living”, he said. “I think my work with her over the years has been something I have looked at with awe”, said the Senate majority leader to CNN. She was the first lady. “She started the trend toward looking to do something about health care”, he added. They nodded approvingly and said “amen” as Clinton denounced gun violence and controversial police tactics that she said hurt the African-American community more than the general population.

Some African American voters have even gone so far as to describe former President Bill Clinton, a white man and Hillary’s husband, to be the country’s first black president, as he paid special attention to the demographic group during his time in the White House.

Previously, Sen. Reid had suggested that the Democratic nomination process could continue until the July convention.

Debra Harmon, a resident of nearby Lane, S.C., who came to hear Clinton speak, said she did not interpret Clinton’s remarks as a criticism of Obama.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will hold a news conference in Columbia to discuss his plan to “lift working families in the Palmetto State out of poverty”. Reid participated but voted as “uncommitted”, saying he would remain neutral in the competition so he could not be accused of rigging the caucuses. Among self-identified Democrats, Clinton leads Sanders 55% to 31%, but among self-identified independents, Sanders leads Clinton 58% to 36%. “The Clinton’s are very well known within SC”, says Karen Kedrowski, political scientist and dean at Winthrop University, “and I think largely seen in a positive way”. To win the democratic nomination, a candidate will need 2,383 delegates.

Sanders is taking an increasingly tough line against Clinton. Clinton is projected to claim 52 percent of democratic voters, with Sanders trailing by 12 percent. That prompted criticism from some who accused Sanders of exaggerating his involvement. Sanders, a longtime Senator, has not received endorsements from any of his Senate colleagues; meanwhile, Clinton has been endorsed by more than 40 of the 44 Democratic senators.