Hillary Clinton wins New York, now she needs to win Sanders supporters

At Hillary Clinton's Times Square primary party last night, the ear-splitting moment happened sometime between the disco jams and the Barry White soul ballad.

As the crowd listened to piped-in music while waiting for the Democratic candidate's arrival, twin screens airing live CNN coverage of the New York primary went to a breaking-news graphic: "Hillary Clinton is the winner of the New York State Democratic presidential primary."

Pandemonium.

"We're with her! We're with her!" the crowd in the Manhattan hotel ballroom cheered.

"She's done it! She's done it!" one woman shrieked, punching the air.

As if there ever was a doubt.

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Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, was widely expected to win in her adopted home state of New York, where she was twice elected senator. And she won big — by at least 15 points as of midnight.

Of all the contests so far, Clinton said, "this one's personal."

Clinton has broken Sanders's recent winning streak. Now, she's looking to do some mending.

In a clarifying moment for this nomination battle, Clinton acknowledged her opponent's impressive ability to mobilize a group of inspirational and aspirational liberal voters, then appeared to reach out to his bloc to consider her candidacy.

"To all the people who supported senator Sanders, I believe there is much more that unites us than divides us," she said, cueing one of the night's loudest roars of approval.

How that message will be received is not yet clear.

A "Bernie or bust" movement is raising anxieties ahead of November's general election.

A McClatchy-Marist poll released this month suggested that a quarter of Sanders supporters, or 25 per cent, would spurn Clinton in a general election if the 74-year-old Vermont senator loses the nomination to her.

That's potentially worrisome for Clinton, who salted her rhetoric last night with references to fighting climate change and systemic racism, and revitalizing places "that have been left out and left behind, from inner cities to coal country to Indian country."

To Eve Ellis, standing on a metal gate for a better view of Clinton, it sounded like the kind of progressive language that might dovetail with a Sanders supporter's ideals.

"I mean, there's so much common ground," Ellis said. "I think she was almost pleading with [Sanders supporters] just to notice that there is common ground."

Obstacles on path to party unity

Political analyst Kyle Kondik says Clinton must now refocus on "trying to unify her own party" as she looks to have secured the Democratic nomination.

"Whenever this race does end, there's going to have to be some reconciliation of the party," he said. "Part of it will be how much will Sanders support Clinton, and endorse her, and campaign for her."

Reconciliation may take some time. New York was the battleground that deepened an increasingly bitter feud, with Sanders accusing Clinton of being "unqualified" for the presidency due to her voting record supporting the war in Iraq.

Clinton accused Sanders of political impracticality, saying in a Brooklyn debate, "It's easy to diagnose the problem; it's harder to do something about the problem."

Pragmatism is what sells Clinton to voters like Rowena Cruz, a 44-year-old software engineer from Harlem.

"I love Bernie Sanders. He has a great message," she said as Clinton supporters streamed out of the convention centre following the event. "But at the end of the day, there's going to be one candidate for the Democratic party, and Hillary's getting close."

Cruz, who is Filipino-American, was also struck by the diversity of faces she saw around the room.

"New York delivered for Hillary Clinton," she said. "That was the message in that room that needs to spread across the country, that New York is a microcosm of the United States of America."

"This is a nation of immigrants," added Cruz's partner, Kalpana Nitzsche, 54, who is Indian-American. "There was an outpouring of love in there."

Going from outsider to insider

But one problem that Nitzsche foresees for Clinton?

"She's a quintessential politician," she said, noting that the Sanders grassroots movement in pursuit of a "political revolution" is not likely to look favourably upon a candidate with such close ties to Washington.

Nevertheless, the former Secretary of State's triumph in New York has extended her dominance in the election.

"The race for the Democratic nomination is in the home stretch, and victory is in sight," she said, laughing as the crowd broke into a chant of "Hillary! Hillary"

By midnight, according to CNN projections, her 57.9 per cent lead to Sanders's 42.1 per cent means the state's haul of 247 pledged delegates should give Clinton at least 143 and Sanders at least 103, once they're allocated proportionally.

New York State also has 44 superdelegates in play. Most have committed to Clinton, but those high-ranking party insiders will be able to switch their allegiances at the Democratic party convention in July.

Kondik expects party brass to be breathing a sigh of relief. Winning was good for Clinton. Winning by a 15-point margin strengthens confidence in her candidacy and silences the narrative that has played up Sanders's eight wins in the last nine contests.

"Sanders needed to win by 15 [points] in order to have a realistic chance of catching her. He lost by 15," Kondik said. "So unless Clinton is somehow forced from this race, this race is over — and it's been over for a while."

The New York results could be a positive indicator of her chances before several Northeastern contests, including votes in New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

A total of 2,383 delegates is needed for the nomination.