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US election 2016: Can Democrats and Republicans unite around their chosen candidates?

Here's what happened on the campaign trail the week of May 16.

A rubber band wraps the front page of the La Opinion newspaper featuring pictures of Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump as the newspaper lies on the sidewalk ahead of the California Primary election in Santa Ana, California May 15, 2016. Picture taken May 15, 2016.  REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon - RTSEKH5
A rubber band wraps the front page of the La Opinion Spanish-language newspaper featuring photos of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as the paper lies on a Santa Ana sidewalk on May 15, 2016, ahead of the June 7 California primary election. — REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon

This week Republican and Democratic leaders really started to urge recalcitrant voters to get behind their parties' presumptive nominees.

It hasn't all gone smoothly.

With real estate billionaire Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all but anointed, the race is on to pivot to this November's general election. To succeed, the candidates must now make themselves more palatable to the larger US public after a bruising primary battle.

Clinton expected to have an easier time of it after a rash of Trump comments widely deemed offensive to women and minorities. But Bernie Sanders' refusal to drop his bid for the Democratic nomination and clear the field for her has once again turned conventional wisdom on its head in this most unusual campaign season.

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