‘We are on the brink’: Hillary Clinton projected to win Democratic nomination

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Several media outlets projected Monday night that Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic presidential nomination, but the former secretary of state was not eager to embrace that title yet.

“According to the news, we are on the brink of a historic, historic, unprecedented moment,” she told a crowd of hundreds in a college gymnasium. “But we still have work to do, don’t we?”

Before her speech, Clinton wrote on Twitter that she was “flattered” by the Associated Press claim but that she still had “primaries to win.” Six states, including California and New Jersey, are set to choose Tuesday between Clinton and her primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The media outlets declared Clinton the winner after enough uncommitted superdelegates announced their support for her candidacy. Additionally, Clinton scooped up a number of pledged delegates with a big win last weekend in Puerto Rico’s primary.

The Sanders campaign said the media was making a mistake in a “rush to judgment.”

“Secretary Clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination,” spokesman Michael Briggs said in a statement.

Slideshow: The campaign for primary day, June 7 >>>

Sanders held a press conference over the weekend in Los Angeles to make his case that neither the media nor Clinton should declare her the winner until she amasses the requisite 2,838 delegates without the help of unpledged superdelegates, or party elites who are allowed to switch their vote at the July convention. Sanders said he still hopes to convince those superdelegates to back him, even though he also trails Clinton in the popular vote and pledged delegates.

But the unexpected timing of the call is not ideal for the Clinton campaign either. She likely would have preferred to secure the nomination in the immediate aftermath of a big electoral win. Also, the AP call relied upon superdelegates, which feeds into some Sanders supporters’ arguments that Clinton is only winning because of her support from the Democratic Party establishment.

Several Clinton supporters at the Long Beach event said they had not heard about the AP’s call. “I’m totally excited,” said Laurie Whalen, a 50-year-old director of a homeless shelter. Whalen said she would vote tomorrow even if Clinton technically has all the delegates she needs. “I just want to show her that I believe in her.”