This past week while rallying voters in California as he approaches the last big day of presidential primaries, Senator Sanders disgustingly said to his supporters, "The media will declare Clinton the winner Tuesday night... do not listen to them." Seriously? So let me get this straight... even though the news outlets will declare Hillary the presumptive Democratic nominee because she reaches enough delegates to win the nomination, we are not supposed to believe them? No Mr. Sanders, what I cannot believe is your rhetoric and the false hope that you are giving your supporters.
Hillary Clinton will become the presumptive Democratic nominee this week because she will win the amount of delegates needed to win. Hillary Clinton will be declared the winner of the primary even before the California polls close this Tuesday. Bernie is claiming that if he does well in California, which has 475 pledged delegates, he will then have a chance to move forward and become the Democratic nominee.
The only problem with this plan is that after California the only contest left is D.C. where Clinton is expected to do very well. As of June 1st, Hillary has led in every single California poll, but Senator Sanders is hoping to win the golden state this Tuesday. If he wants his win to matter, though, and change the outcome of the race, he would need to win the state by at least 85 percent in order to win all 475 delegates at stake so he would then have a chance at beating Hillary in the majority of pledged delegates. Now, if California was the only contest that day and Sanders won by just 85 percent, then he would have a better chance of becoming the candidate with more pledged delegates, but California isn't the only contest that day. We also have the New Jersey and New Mexico primaries. Nate Silver is projecting Clinton to win by 63 percent to 35 percent in New Jersey, while the latest poll to come out of New Mexico has Clinton ahead of Sanders by 25 points.
Even though California is not the only contest that day and these other contests will treat Clinton well, Bernie Sanders is not going to win California by 85 percent. Even if Sanders does pull California, I predict that it will be no more than five to seven points, which would still give Clinton more pledged delegates, and she would still be the nominee. We must not forget that President Obama lost California to Hillary in 2008 after clinching the nomination after South Dakota polls closed.
The false hope that Bernie is giving his supporters is not only wrong, but it is dangerous and it needs to stop. It is over for him, and it is time for him to realize this and admit it. #DropOutBernie
