Hillary Clinton explained how Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) could follow her example from 2008 and unite his followers behind her during her Good Morning America town hall Thursday.
As the Weekly Standard put it, it appeared Clinton was providing her Democratic primary opponent a "blueprint" for his exit strategy. Clinton drilled Sanders in the New York primary on Tuesday, eliminating much of the remaining drama about who will be the party's presidential nominee.
Clinton and Sanders, however, have had an increasingly contentious campaign fight, with prominent supporters on both sides using vulgar language in recent weeks. A senior Clinton aide said "fuck him" if Sanders wouldn't tone down his Clinton criticism, and a Sanders supporter referred to "corporate Democratic whores" in a speech about health care.
However, Clinton told the ABC audience that she felt there was plenty to unite the Democratic Party, recalling in 2008 that she helped Barack Obama win the presidency after their bitter fight for the nomination.
"I believe that once the nominating process has concluded, there is a great reason to come together," Clinton said. "I know something about this, because as people remember, President Obama and I ran a really tough race for the entire primary season, and he ended up with more delegates, and I withdrew. I endorsed him, and I then got to work. And remember, when I withdrew in June of 2008, polls were showing that at least 40 percent of my supporters said, oh, they weren't going to support Sen. Obama. So I had to get to work, and I had to make the case.
"I nominated him at the convention. I went from group to group, even as late as the convention, convincing people who were my delegates to come together, to unify, because what then-senator Obama and I had in common was much greater than our differences. And so we were successful, thank goodness, and he was elected. So, I'm hoping the same thing will happen this time."