Democrat Clinton makes history, wins US presidential nomination

PHILADELPHIA

A screen displays Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivering remarks to the crowd during the evening session on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 26, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. AFP photo

Hillary Clinton secured the Democratic Party’s White House nomination, coming back from a stinging defeat in her first presidential run in 2008 and surviving a bitter primary fight to become the first woman to head the ticket of a major party in U.S. history. 

In a symbolic show of party unity, Clinton’s former rival, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, told the chairwoman from the convention floor that Clinton, 68, should be selected as the party’s nominee at the dramatic climax of a state-by-state roll call at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. 

Capping nearly a quarter century in public life, Clinton will become the party’s standard-bearer against Republican nominee Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 election when she accepts the nomination on July 28.

“If there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch, let me just say: I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next,” Reuters quoted Clinton as saying at the convention via a video satellite link. 

In nominating Clinton, delegates made the point that the selection of a woman was a milestone in America’s 240-year-old history. Women got the right to vote in 1920 after ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, portrayed her in a speech to the convention as a dynamic force for change as he made a case for her White House bid. 

“Hillary is uniquely qualified to seize the opportunities and reduce the risks we face, and she is still the best darn change-maker I have ever known,” he said, hitting back at Republican arguments she is a Washington insider tied to the status quo. 

The Democratic nominee, who promises to tackle income  inequality, tighten gun control and rein in Wall Street if she becomes president, is eager to portray Trump, a businessman and former reality TV show host, as too unstable to sit in the Oval Office. 

Trump, 70, who has never held elective office, got a boost in opinion polls from his nomination at the Republican convention last week. He had a 2-point lead over Clinton in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on July 26, the first time he has been ahead since early May. 

Sanders has endorsed Clinton, but some of his supporters protested in Philadelphia against the party leadership’s apparent backing of her during the Democratic primary fight. 

Outside the convention hall, protests turned more heated late on July 26. Thousands of protesters gathered near a subway station close to the convention center although a heavy police presence and barricades kept them far from convention guests. Among the protesters were Sanders supporters and Black Lives Matter activists.