Common Sense on the Democratic Presidential Race
(COMMON DREAMS) Robert Borosage, June 2, 2016 — The media has declared the Democratic presidential race over, even though no candidate has won a majority of the delegates. The Democratic establishment is in a tizzy about polls showing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump running even with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, although that mostly reflects Republicans consolidating, however reluctantly, behind Trump.
Clinton surrogates and operatives are pounding on Bernie Sanders to get out of the race, claiming they want to unify the party even as they excoriate Sanders and scorn his supporters. Perhaps it is time for a little common sense about the campaign.
● A race isn’t over until someone wins.
This isn’t complicated. When the primary season ends, neither Sanders nor Clinton will have won the majority of pledged delegates needed to win the nomination. Clinton is likely to end with more pledged delegates and more total votes; Sanders, particularly if he astounds in California, will have shown increasing momentum and popularity. Superdelegates – who make their own decisions on whom to support – will decide the nomination. They can change their minds until they vote at the convention.
● Sanders is playing by the rules.
For all the animus directed at Sanders, he’s playing by the rules set up by the party. He’s competing in primaries and caucuses, including the Byzantine ways state conventions sort out delegates long after the primary is over. He’s intent on making an appeal to the Superdelegates who will decide the nomination. A vast number of them committed to Clinton before the race even began. They are free to change their minds; Sanders and his supporters are free to try to convince them to do so. Those are the rules of the race.