Exactly eight years after she suspended her first campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton was able to take the stage in Brooklyn on Tuesday night and celebrate her place as the first woman nominee of a major American political party.
She zeroed in on the historic nature of her victory early on, invoking the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, an early expression of support for suffrage for American women.
“We owe so much to those that came before, and tonight belongs to all of you,” Clinton said before thanking her campaign staff and volunteers.
Clinton made a strong push for supporters of Bernie Sanders to join her side in the upcoming election with Donald Trump.
“I want to congratulate Senator Sanders for the extraordinary campaign he has run,” she said. “He has spent his long career in public service fighting for progressive causes and principles.” Clinton also noted that the primary campaign against Sanders was “very good for the Democratic Party and for America.”
Clinton shifted her sights firmly on the general election. She obliquely referred to Trump noting that “bridges are better than walls.” And she returned to the line of attack she has favored in recent days, arguing that Trump is “temperamentally unfit to be president.”
Clinton called out Trump for his comments about women, Mexicans, and a disabled reporter. She spoke with the polish of a seasoned politician, a quality Donald Trump tried to assume earlier in the evening, using a teleprompter for the third time in his campaign.
Clinton framed the general election come as one of historical significance, not only because of the potential to elect a first female U.S. president but also on account of the choice between Trump and Clinton’s competing visions for the nation.
On Tuesday evening, Clinton was projected as the winner of primary races in New Jersey and New Mexico. Bernie Sanders won the Democratic caucuses in North Dakota. The results from delegate-rich California are still pending.