Paul Waldman argues that Bernie doesn't believe his own increasingly absurd explanations of how he gets the nomination.
"Six weeks is an awfully long time. And how will Bernie Sanders keep his campaign alive during that time? Maybe he'll call superdelegates one by one to try to convince them that they ought to switch their votes to him. And what will they say? "You know, Bernie, you've got a point. Clinton beat you in votes and delegates, but as you say so often, you did win 20 states. That may be fewer states than Clinton won, but it's still a lot! So you've got my vote."
"No, they won't say that. They'll congratulate him on his excellent performance in the primaries, and tell him that they're sticking with Clinton. If there's a single superdelegate who switches from Clinton to Sanders after next Tuesday — let alone the hundreds he'd need to prevail — I'd be amazed."
"So what else might he do during that six weeks? Is he going to hold rallies to demonstrate his strength and appeal? Perhaps. But he might not get such great turnout when there are no more upcoming primaries, just a campaign everyone says is over."
"It's also important to understand that the news media will lose interest in Sanders very quickly. Their attention will have completely turned to the upcoming battle between Clinton and Donald Trump. Just as right now they aren't eagerly calling up Ted Cruz every day to see what he's up to, so they will begin ignoring Sanders."
"That's unless he promises something really dramatic, like angry protests inside and outside the convention hall. Which he could, but that would produce near-universal condemnation among Democrats, not just from establishment stooges but from most progressive politicians and commentators as well. He'd be branded a sore loser, someone who has lost his connection to reality, a joke. Any hope of exerting influence over Clinton's administration would be gone; that's not something she's going to forget."
"I suspect that Sanders himself understands this pretty well, and I continue to believe that the increasingly ridiculous arguments he makes for why he and not Clinton should be the nominee are offered to buck up the spirits of his supporters and not because he actually believes them."
http://theweek.com/articles/628368/bernie-sanders-long-lonely-march-democratic-convention
"Six weeks is an awfully long time. And how will Bernie Sanders keep his campaign alive during that time? Maybe he'll call superdelegates one by one to try to convince them that they ought to switch their votes to him. And what will they say? "You know, Bernie, you've got a point. Clinton beat you in votes and delegates, but as you say so often, you did win 20 states. That may be fewer states than Clinton won, but it's still a lot! So you've got my vote."
"No, they won't say that. They'll congratulate him on his excellent performance in the primaries, and tell him that they're sticking with Clinton. If there's a single superdelegate who switches from Clinton to Sanders after next Tuesday — let alone the hundreds he'd need to prevail — I'd be amazed."
"So what else might he do during that six weeks? Is he going to hold rallies to demonstrate his strength and appeal? Perhaps. But he might not get such great turnout when there are no more upcoming primaries, just a campaign everyone says is over."
"It's also important to understand that the news media will lose interest in Sanders very quickly. Their attention will have completely turned to the upcoming battle between Clinton and Donald Trump. Just as right now they aren't eagerly calling up Ted Cruz every day to see what he's up to, so they will begin ignoring Sanders."
"That's unless he promises something really dramatic, like angry protests inside and outside the convention hall. Which he could, but that would produce near-universal condemnation among Democrats, not just from establishment stooges but from most progressive politicians and commentators as well. He'd be branded a sore loser, someone who has lost his connection to reality, a joke. Any hope of exerting influence over Clinton's administration would be gone; that's not something she's going to forget."
"I suspect that Sanders himself understands this pretty well, and I continue to believe that the increasingly ridiculous arguments he makes for why he and not Clinton should be the nominee are offered to buck up the spirits of his supporters and not because he actually believes them."
http://theweek.com/articles/628368/bernie-sanders-long-lonely-march-democratic-convention
I think this is probably so. Waldman says Bernie probably holds on till next week. One way or the other I think he gives up soon. Definitely not a convention fight.
He just has to come up with some narrative until the voting is over.
But he will have zero mandate to go on beyond this.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2016/06/jeff-merkley-dem-unity-will-begin-today.html
Perhaps this is why the betting markets now give Biden a better chance at 1.6 percent than Bernie at 1.3% at becoming the Dem nominee. Hillary is actually 96.6 percent while Trump is at 95.7 percent to win her party's nomination.
To win the Presidency she is at 71.7 percent while Trump is at 24 percent.
Anyway, Hillary lovers it won't be long now.
Next week at Monday in Cleveland she will give her big first speech as the party nominee.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2016/06/bernie-campaign-nj-could-be-difficult.html
She should win NJ in a rout tonight and probably win California-though it seems we may not know at all who won Cali tonight.
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