There are many moving tributes to Hillary Clinton’s remarkable victory and the historic significance of what she has accomplished. For openers try this Baltimore Sun editorial, which notes, “But make no mistake, this is big. As of today, the whole parent-daughter chat about “you can grow up to be anything you want to be including president of the United States” sounds a bit more credible than it did the day before. And few candidates better embody the struggles women have faced in the last half-century — from balancing motherhood to career to be accepted in the various male-dominated professions — than the presumptive Democratic nominee…How overdue is a female head of state? While Republicans and Democrats may brag that they’ve collectively elected more women to Congress than ever (about 20 percent of the House and Senate is female), other countries have done much better. As a Pew Research Center study released earlier this year points out, the U.S. ranks 33rd among 49 high-income countries in electing women to its national legislature. But wait, it’s really worse than that: Compared to 137 countries where data is available, the U.S. ranked 83rd , according to Pew.”
At The American Prospect, Adel Stan adds “Call me a sentimental sap, but forgive my tears. A woman has just won the presidential nomination of one of our two major political parties. An accomplished woman. A woman who can throw a rhetorical punch. A woman who’s made tough choices. And for the sake of all of the women who come after her, that’s a righteously good thing. We’ve been waiting a long time.”
From “Will Bernie Sanders supporters rally behind Hillary Clinton now? Here’s what we know” by Scott Clement and Emily Guskin at The Fix: “A May Washington Post-ABC News poll found 20 percent of Sanders primary supporters said they would support Donald Trump if he faced Hillary Clinton in a general election. At the same point eight years ago, 26 percent of Clinton primary supporters said they would support Republican Sen. John McCain…Post-ABC polling tracked Clinton’s 2008 primary supporters throughout the fall campaign and found they steadily gravitated toward Obama during the general election. Obama’s support among Clinton primary supporters rose from 64 percent in May to 73 percent in mid-September, 79 percent in mid-October and 83 percent by Election Day, according to the national network exit poll.”
Politico’s Edward-Isaac Dovere reports on President Obama’s White House meeting with Sen. Bernie Sanders scheduled for today.
At The Hill Brent Budowsky envisions a new, powerful role for Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 campaign: “After the California primary, it is now certain that Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) cannot be the Democratic nominee for president, but he can still be the second most important Democrat in the election if he plays his cards right. Sanders should drop out of the presidential campaign as a candidate for the presidency, and reconstitute his campaign as a people’s PAC to raise substantial money from small donors that would be used to support liberal candidates running for the House and Senate against Republicans…Sanders still has a golden opportunity to have a truly powerful impact on American history in ways that would touch, and improve, many aspects of American life. His supporters and small donors can have a huge impact, achieving many aspects of the Sanders revolution that would begin immediately and last for decades to come.”
In his Tuesday night speech in Santa Monica, reports Amy Davidson at The New Yorker, Sanders “emphasized that he was still after something bigger than Trump–“transforming our country,” “knowing that we can do much, much better as a nation,” and making health care a right. Also, breaking up the banks and making “the billionaire class and corporate America” pay more taxes.” — all of which fit in nicely with Budowsky’s suggestion.
If there are any swing voters of conscience who remain undecided in their choice for president, this ad should close the deal:

At The Boston Globe Matt Viser’s “Reid reviews scenarios for filling Senate seat if Warren is VP pick,” explains how problematic it could be for Dems to keep Warren’s senate seat if Clinton selects her as running mate. Ditto for Sens. Sherrod Brown and Cory Booker, who would also have their replacements selected by Republican governors. Other frequently-suggested Democratic running mates who don’t have that problem include Sens. Bernie Sanders (VT), Tim Kaine (VA), Jack Reed (RI) and Amy Klobuchar (MN) along with CO Gov. John Hickenlooper.
Political scientists may have to coin a new term for Republicans who couple their denunciations of Trump’s racism with their endorsements of the GOP nominee. William Saletan provides an instructive typology at slate.com, “14 Republican Excuses for Donald Trump’s Racism.”