A defiant Hillary Clinton heralded her campaign victories and boasted of her millions of supporters last night – conceding nothing to Barack Obama even as her rival crossed the critical delegate-number threshold to secure the Democratic nomination.
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Taking the stage after scores of media outlets had earlier declared Obama the primary-race winner, Clinton praised her opponent only for his “accomplishments.”
Earlier in the day, Terry McAuliffe, her campaign chairman, had said that if Obama secured the 2,118 delegates need for the nomination “I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee.”
That didn’t happen last night, as Clinton said in her speech at Baruch College that she needed time to consider her next move.
Her advisers said they considered the delegate numbers to be unreliable, even as The Associated Press and other media outlets estimated Obama had more than the 2,118 needed.
Refusing to acknowledge the historic moment, Clinton instead ran down the list of every state she has won, trumpeted the nearly 18 million people who voted for her in this year’s contests and demanded that her supporters be given “respect.”
“You know, I understand that a lot of people are asking, ‘What does Hillary want? What does she want?’ ” she said as her supporters broke into cheers of “Denver, Denver,” where the Democratic convention takes place in late August.
“Well, I want what I have always fought for in this whole campaign. I want to end the war in Iraq,” she said.
“I want health care for every American. I want every child to live up to his or her God-given potential. And I want the nearly 18 million Americans who voted for me to be respected, to be heard and no longer to be invisible,” she said.
“Who will be ready to take back the White House and take charge as commander-in-chief and lead our country to better tomorrows?” she asked, raising the electability argument that has been a centerpiece of her campaign.
Touting her strength at the polls, Clinton also said she had won the “swing states” needed to get the 270 electoral votes to capture the White House, as her supporters broke into chants of, “Yes, we will!” – a dig on Obama’s slogan, “Yes we can!”
“This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight,” she said, spoiling media reports that she would concede that Obama had captured enough delegates to be the nominee.
She then told her supporters – again mentioning her 18 million vote count – that she wanted to “hear from you,” and directed them to her Web site, which has become a potent fund-raising vehicle.
Clinton returned to her political home state for her speech, choosing not to hold a celebration in South Dakota – where she won that state’s primary last night – on a day when a flood of superdelegates broke for Obama.
“Sen. Obama has inspired so many Americans to care about politics and inspired so many more to get involved. And our party and our democracy is more vibrant as a result,” Clinton said.
Clinton’s advisers have counseled her to try to use her primary victories to negotiate for the No. 2 slot or Obama’s help in settling her $40 million campaign debt, which includes more than $11 million she has loaned to her campaign – possibly much more.