Clinton focuses on Trump fight

Associated Press

CHICAGO

Barnstorming through the Rust Belt, Bernie Sanders on Monday looked toward primary contests in five states as the linchpin of his strategy to turn the tide against Hillary Clinton and overcome her delegate edge in the Democratic primary. Clinton urged Democrats to unite behind her bid to focus on a far bigger threat: Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

“Do not rest. If there’s an L stop you can go to, if there’s a phone call you can make, please do everything you can in the next 24-plus hours to come out of these elections with the wind at our backs,” Clinton said at a Monday rally in Chicago. “We have the way forward to be able to start talking about not only unifying the Democratic party but unifying our country.”

Clinton’s pitch came as Trump blamed Sanders supporters for protests that prompted the billionaire mogul to cancel a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago – just a few miles away from the union hall where Clinton wooed supporters. Sanders embarked upon a four-state swing through Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri and Illinois, ending the day with an evening rally in Chicago.

Sanders’ advisers saw a path to victory in Missouri and the potential for success in Illinois and Ohio, two states that have similar electorates as Michigan, where he upset Clinton last week. Victories in any of the states would give Sanders fresh momentum in what has become an uphill battle for the nomination. But contests in North Carolina and Florida, two states where voters have the option of voting early, posed a tougher challenge.

Clinton maintained an advantage in Florida, today’s biggest delegate prize and one of the nation’s premier general-election battlegrounds, putting Sanders at risk of losing more ground with delegates even if he fares well in the Midwest. Clinton’s team tried to tamp down expectations for tonight, stressing that the race remains close in the Midwest, where they hoped to avoid a repeat of the Michigan primary.

Meanwhile, authorities in North Carolina said there isn’t enough evidence to press charges against Donald Trump for his behavior in connection with a violent altercation at one of his rallies last week. In a statement issued Monday night, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said legal counsel advised and Sheriff Earl “Moose” Butler agreed that the evidence doesn’t meet the requisites of North Carolina law to support a conviction for inciting a riot.