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ByLisaLererand Ken Thomas The Associated Press WASHINGTON Democratic Party leaders are upping the pressure on Bernie Sanders to drop his presi- dential campaign, alarmed that his continued presence is undermining efforts to beat the presumptive Re- publican nominee, Donald Trump, and again win the White House. "I don't think they think of the downside of this," said Sen. Dianne Fein- stein, D-Calif., a supporter of front-runner Hillary Clinton and broker of the post-primary peace be- tween Clinton and then-Il- linois Sen. Barack Obama in 2008. "It's actually harmful be- cause she can't make that general-election pivot the way she should," Feinstein said. "Trump has made that pivot." The new concerns come after Sanders' recent wins over Clinton in Indiana and West Virginia. While those victories have provided his supporters a fresh sense of momentum heading into next week's primaries in Kentucky and Oregon, they did almost nothing to help Sanders cut into Clinton's nearly insurmountable lead in the delegates who will decide their party's nomi- nation. Still Sanders soldiers on, frequently telling the thou- sands of supporters who at- tend his rallies that he still has a narrow path to the nomination. "Please do not moan to me about Hillary Clinton's problems," Sanders said in a recent interview with MSNBC. "It is a steep hill to climb, but we're going to fight for every last vote." Clinton, her aides and supporters have largely re- sisted calling on Sanders to drop out, noting that she fought her 2008 primary bid against Obama well into June. But now that Trump has locked up the Republi- can nomination, they fear the billionaire businessman is capitalizing on Sanders' decision to remain in the race by echoing his attacks and trying to appeal to the same independent, econom- ically frustrated voters that back the Vermont senator. "I would just hope that he would understand that we need to begin consolidat- ing our vote sooner rather than later," said Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., a Clinton backer and former chief of efforts to elect Democrats to the House. "Democrats cannot wait too long." Though Clinton has for the past few weeks largely focused her rhetoric on Trump, campaign aides say the two-front effort ham- pers their ability to tar- get both Sanders support- ers and Republican-lean- ing independents that may be open to her candidacy. It also means she's spend- ing time in primary states, rather than battlegrounds that will decide the general election. Clinton will return to Kentucky on Sunday, two days before the state's pri- mary. She's sending high- level advocates to the state this weekend to rally voters, among them Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, former Pennsyl- vania Gov. Ed Rendell and Reps. James Clyburn of South Carolina, G.K. But- terfield of North Carolina, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Hakeem Jeffries and Joe Crowley of New York. While they can talk up Clinton, Sanders' determi- nation to contest every state remaining has kept Obama and Vice President Joe Biden largely on the side- lines, benching two of her most powerful advocates. "It all sort of slows the takeoff of her general-elec- tion campaign," said Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a member of the party's lib- eral wing from a perennial battleground. Sanders' campaign saw its fundraising drop by about 40 percent last month and he's laid off hundreds of staffers. Biden said this week he "feels confident" that Clinton will be the nominee. Even Obama is pointing out the realities of the delegate math, which puts Clinton on track to capture the nomination early next month. Clinton has won 23 states to Sanders' 19, capturing 3 million more votes than her rival along the way. She has 94 percent of the delegates needed to win the nomi- nation, which means she could lose all the remain- ing states and still emerge as the nominee — as long as all her supporters among the party insiders known as superdelegates continue to back her. Clinton campaign man- ager Robby Mook wrote in a memo to donors this week that there is "no doubt" Clinton will be the Demo- cratic nominee, describing her lead as "insurmount- able." White House officials be- lieve Obama has the ability to coax some die-hard Sand- ers' fans into the Clinton camp, particularly young people and liberals. But if he moves before Clinton of- ficially captures the nomi- nation, he risks angering those voters and undermin- ing that effort. POLITICS DemocratsfearSandersunderminingelectionprospects KRISTINABARKER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders pauses while speaking during a campaign stop in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Thursday. By Richard Lardner The Associated Press WASHINGTON Congress is on the verge of ordering young women to register for a military draft for the first time in history, touch- ing off outrage among so- cial conservatives who fear the move is another step to- ward blurring gender lines. The female draft require- ment, approved late Thurs- day by the Senate Armed Services Committee, could be as heated as the divisive debate over what public lav- atories and locker rooms transgender people should use. Opponents of expanding the draft may be unable to halt the momentum in fa- vor of lifting the exclusion, which was triggered by the Pentagon's decision late last year to open all front- line combat jobs to women. After gender restrictions to military service were erased, the top uniformed officers in each of the mil- itary branches expressed support during congressio- nal testimony for including women in a potential draft. The Senate Armed Ser- vices Committee added a provision to its version of the annual defense policy bill that calls for women to sign up with the Selec- tive Service within 30 days of turning 18 — just as men are — beginning in January 2018, according to a sum- mary of the legislation re- leased by the committee. The House Armed Ser- vices Committee narrowly adopted a provision to its bill late last month to in- clude women in Selective Service. "This is a highly conse- quential — and, for many American families, a deeply controversial — decision that deserves to be resolved by Congress after a robust and transparent debate in front of the American peo- ple, instead of buried in an embargoed document that is passed every year to fund military pay and benefits," said Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of three Senate Armed Services Committee mem- bers who voted against the policy bill. Conservative columnist Daniel Horowitz wrote of the "consequences of com- pletely eradicating the self- evident truth and science of the two sexes." The full House is ex- pected to take up its version of the legislation as early as next week. The Senate will consider its bill later this month. While the subject is con- tentious, a return to forc- ing people to join the armed forces seems unlikely. Mil- itary leaders maintain the all-volunteer force is work- ing and do not want a re- turn to conscription. The U.S. has not had a military draft since 1973, in the wan- ing years of the Vietnam War era. Still, all men be- tween the ages of 18 and 25 are required by law to reg- ister. "It's what a man's got to do," says the Selective Ser- vice website. WASHINGTON Registering for the military dra : It's what a man's got to do, and women? 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