Clinton and Sanders begin the process of unification

SEATTLE -- With the last presidential contest yesterday in Washington, D.C., the Democratic presidential primaries now over, and all signs are that Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are ready to put aside their differences and come together.

The two met Tuesday night and talked about what Sanders wants in order for him to fully endorse Clinton in the general election against Donald Trump.

Sanders wants firm commitments on issues such as the minimum wage and college tuition costs before offering his support.  He especially wants a prime time speaking slot at the Democratic Convention next month.  He’s clearly using the leverage he has, and the 12 million votes he got, before jumping on board the Clinton bandwagon.

With the Bernie Sanders battle mostly behind her, Hillary Clinton is ratcheting up her rhetoric against Donald Trump, especially his response to the shootings in Orlando.  “A ban on Muslims would not have stopped this attack,” Clinton said.   “Neither would a wall.”

But  Trump isn’t backing down on his controversial Muslim ban.  In fact, he is going one step further, calling for monitoring of Muslims here in America.   “We have to maybe check respectfully the mosques and we have to check other places,” Trump said.  “This is a problem that if we don't solve it, it's going to eat our country alive.”

Here’s the latest poll averages for the general election race, now that both are the presumptive nominees of their respective parties:

Clinton:  44%

Trump:  39%