The Democratic race for the 2016 nomination is almost complete, and the all-important California primary will be held on June 7. But already the race appears to be entering a phase that will–barring a miracle of epic proportions–make former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the nominee.
Appearing on “Meet the Press” this morning, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders maintained there were still three paths for him to be victorious over Clinton, telling host Chuck Todd he will go to the superdelegates who are supporting Clinton and tell them:
“Do what the people in your state want. They voted for Bernie Sanders, you as the superdelegates should follow their wishes.
“We’re going to make the case for the superdelegates. Your job is to make sure that Trump is defeated, that Bernie Sanders, in fact, for a variety of reasons, not just polling, is the strongest candidate.”
That’s when Chuck Todd hit Sanders with a cold bath of reality:
“You’re saying you want them to respect the vote in their state, then at the same time, you say, ‘But oh, by the way, for those of you that are a superdelegate in a state that Clinton won, why don’t you think about the general election?’ It’s a little bit hypocritical to be on both sides of those issues.”
Sanders said it wasn’t:
“No, no, no, that’s not what I’m saying.”
Yes, it most certainly is, Senator. I love Bernie Sanders, have contributed money to him and voted for him in the primary, but his race is almost run. After the last primary votes are counted, Sanders will likely still be short on pledged delegates and will also have gotten 3 million fewer votes in the primaries than Clinton. And I’m hopeful he will see the importance of supporting the Democratic nominee and doing everything he can to assure that Donald Trump does not become President. Should he fail to do so, then this entire run has been about nothing but his own vanity.
Here’s Sanders on “Meet the Press” this morning:
This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org.