Loni Hancock, a former member of the Clinton administration who headed the Western Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Education, and who is an endorser of the Hillary Clinton campaign for president, said in answer to a question concerning the presidential race at a meeting of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club (WDRC) attended by over two hundred at the Humanist Hall in Oakland, California, this past Thursday evening, March 27, "You know, folks, I think we all know it's over!"
Hancock, a former mayor of Berkeley who now serves as a soon-to-be-termed-out state assemblymember from the 14th assembly district and who is married to former Assemblymember Tom Bates (who traded places with Hancock and is now mayor of Berkeley), is currently locked in a tight race for the State Senate's 9th district seat with another progressive, termed-out former Assemblymember Wilma Chan. (Note for those who are wondering: Hancock is not one of California's superdelegates.)
The question arose at the WDRC's endorsement meeting for the California June primary, where whoever wins the Democratic nomination is virtually guaranteed victory in the November election given the heavily Democratic electorate in the East Bay.
Hancock's assessment that the Democratic nomination is in essence settled came in reply to a question from a club member to both candidates concerning who they were backing for president and why. It was clear even before the meeting that this would be a hot issue for club members: The club's chat lines had buzzed for over a week after one member posed the question of whether a Clinton endorsement should be a "deal breaker" in local endorsements. With prominent East Bay progressives such as Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Assemblymember Sandré Swanson endorsing Clinton, in contrast to other prominent East Bay progressives such as Congresswoman Barbara Lee and former Assemblymember Wilma Chan who endorsed Obama, the question drew many posts from members. And at the East Bay for Democracy endorsement meeting a couple of weeks before, a Hancock surrogate had fumbled her answer to the same question, perhaps a deciding factor in Hancock not winning the local DFA group's endorsement.
It was clear that Hancock had come to the WRDC meeting prepared to face the question. She started out by saying that the Democratic Party had some excellent candidates this round and that as a longtime feminist who had worked hard on reproductive rights, she was excited at the idea of electing a woman to the presidency and had thus endorsed Clinton. She then gracefully pivoted into her olive-branch offering to club members, who overwhelmingly support Obama (the club initially had endorsed Edwards, then switched its endorsement to Obama after the Iowa primary, in time to work for Obama in the final weeks before the California primary) with the line quoted above — "You know, folks, I think we all know it's over!" — an exclamation that met with loud applause from the audience. She went on to praise Obama as an inspirational candidate, and said she was "delighted" at the opportunity for Democrats to join together and "work our hearts out" to elect Obama this November.
Now I doubt Hancock's WDRC statement will receive much coverage (I didn't notice any reporters present), but I found her statement another interesting sign that even some of those with strong ties to the Clinton administration and the campaign are starting to say publicly what many probably realize privately: that the race is really over and it's time to pull together to win in November.
And, for those who are curious about whether Hancock succeeded in winning the endorsement of the WDRC: The membership split nearly evenly between Hancock and Chan (who had given a fiery speech in answer to the same question, concerning how she had supported Obama from the beginning, even before the club had gotten on board, though with a gracious nod to the Edwards candidacy), meaning neither candidate reached the 60% threshold needed to get the club's endorsement.