Bernie Sanders catching up?
April 13, 2016
With Sanders’ recent sweeping victory in Wisconsin, where he won in every county except Milwaukee, it’s becoming undeniable that the underdog of the Democrats is slowly closing the gap between himself and Hillary Clinton.
In a rally in Wyoming, MSN reports, Bernie Sanders commented on the win, “With our victory tonight is Wisconsin, we have now won 7 out of 8 of the last caucuses and primaries.” And while that is indeed true and Sanders has the momentum, it is clear that there is still much work to be done by his supporters if they expect him to win the primary.
As reported by The Washington Post, for a candidate to have the presidential nomination, they need to win 2,383 delegates. Clinton currently stands in the lead by having 1,243 pledged delegates while Sanders has 979. However, including superdelegates, which vote for their choice of a nominee as opposed to what the state result was, Clinton is at 1,712 delegates to Sanders’ 1,008. With more then half of the caucuses and primaries already finished, this makes catching up a very difficult task.
While a very difficult task, certainly not an impossible one. Ultimately, it would come down to superdelegates. According to MSN, Senator Sanders would still need to win 67 percent of remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates. Although, superdelegates can change their mind at any point so there is a possibility of superdelegates switching from Clinton to Sanders. This is especially possible because of the massive support that Sanders has from the people. That sort of momentum can lead to changing minds and causing people to change sides.
Ultimately, it seems like the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination will come down to New York and California. Both states contain a high delegate count and the results of who is to win these states gives us an idea as to how it will all end.
If Clinton were to win both of these, it would widen the gap between her and Sanders far too much for him to catch up, and in the end she would earn the presidential nomination. On the other hand, two victories for Sanders would put him neck in neck with Clinton. Not only that, but that sort of big win would add the momentum to begin changing the minds of superdelegates.
All in all, it comes down to the people’s vote as they determine future and choose who they want to lead the Democratic Party during the presidential race.