Op-ed: Sanders won’t go away even after crushing defeat.
Sen. Bernie Sanders isn’t going to withdraw from the presidential campaign even after a crushing defeat in New York by Hillary Clinton. Sanders’ campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, told MSNBC that even if Clinton still holds the delegate and popular vote lead after all the primaries to come his candidate will try to win the race at the party’s convention in Philadelphia at the end of July. This is the same campaign that predicted it would surprise pollsters and win Clinton’s home state despite polls showing them behind by up to 17 percent. Some pundits had supported their claims that they were catching up with Clinton. In the end, they lost by about 16 percent. Weaver told MSNBC that if all the votes of caucuses were counted Clinton would have a huge lead in the popular vote. Most caucuses draw about 4 percent of the their party’s voters. Primaries get around 20 percent. Clinton has claimed more than a 2.4 million-vote lead. Tuesday night she added 265,000 votes to her lead. Polls indicate Clinton has big leads in several northeastern states voting next week, including Pennsylvania. Clinton’s delegate lead is boosted by the primaries she has won as well as so-called “super delegates” picked by the party leadership. The election website 538 said the New York vote “is a devastating result for the Sanders campaign. The outcome almost certainly ensures that Clinton will beat Sanders in the elected delegate count after the final Democratic votes are counted in June.” Weaver, after having the math pointed out to him, said the campaign would go on anyway. “Absolutely,” he said. Clinton, in her victory speech, said there was nothing important dividing her camp from Sanders. The campaign could get even nastier than it has been in recent weeks. Some pundits suggested Sanders should accept his losses and push for a movement that will have influence in a party that he is not even a member of. He is an independent.
0 Comments
|
