Hillary Clinton said Friday that the buzz surrounding Joe Biden’s possible White House bid has not kept her potential supporters on the sidelines and spoke openly about her campaign’s efforts to secure delegates while attending the Democratic National Committee meeting.
Clinton said she hasn’t seen “any evidence” that Democrats are waiting for the vice president to make a decision before pledging their support for her.
“We have picked up additional supporters yesterday and even today,” Clinton added.
The Democratic presidential frontrunner spoke to reporters after addressing the DNC meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where her campaign is working to shore up delegates even before the opening contest of the 2016 primaries takes place in next February. Bloomberg Politics reported Friday that Clinton aides are privately telling Democrats attending the meeting that the former secretary of state already has one-fifth of the delegates needed to secure the nomination by courting so-called super delegates.
The number would be signal to Biden and his supporters that Clinton is still the clear frontrunner, despite recent campaign stumbles.
“This is really about how you put the numbers together to secure the nomination. As some of you might recall, in 2008, I got a lot of votes, but I didn't get enough delegates, so I think it’s understandable that my focus is going to be on delegates, as well as votes, this time,” Clinton told reporters.
According to the report, Clinton has secured support for more than 60 percent of super delegates, who are unbound by the primaries and caucuses and can back whichever candidate they choose. They make up around 20 percent of total delegates.
“We are working really hard to lock in as many supporters as possible and, of course, that would include super delegates,” Clinton said. “That is part of our strategy to win the nomination. We’re going to continue to do that.”
