Sanders Explains Why He Keeps Going And May Just Win California on Tuesday
EndFragment
The "journey with Bernie" isn't over.
Late last week in the snazzy lobby of the National Nurses United headquarters, NNU Director Rose Ann DeMoro stood with her senior staff and Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and took stock of the risks they had taken to side with Bernie Sanders for president. The Nurses were the first big national union to endorse Sanders, who surprised everyone in the Democratic Party by coming to a photo-finish with Hillary Clinton in Iowa’s caucuses—the Iowa party never released the vote totals. Shortly thereafter, Gabbard stunned political insiders when she resigned as Democratic National Committee’s vice-chair to campaign for Sanders, who had worked with her on veterans issues in Congress. “We’ve all been on the journey with Bernie,” said DeMoro, flanked by nurses who have crossed the country to help an insurgent campaign that was now on the verge of the most improbable finish yet—a strong likelihood that Sanders could win the most delegate-rich state on Tuesday, as the latest polls show him virtually tied with Clinton across California. But other states also will be voting Tuesday and DeMoro warned about the coming media spin. “There will be a narrative, a lie that comes out on June 7,” DeMoro said. “She will not have the pledged delegates. You have to sound the alarm. This is not over. We are going to win California.
Statements like that are baffling to Clinton supporters. They don’t understand the fervor behind Sanders. They say there’s no way superdelegates—elected officials, party leaders and allies who comprise 15 percent of the national convention delegates who will pick the 2016 nominee—are about to drop their overwhelming and longstanding support of Clinton. DeMoro’s words are also baffling to many in the media, who are expected to announce Tuesday before polls close in California, that Clinton has clinched it based on the results elsewhere, namely New Jersey, even though by night's end neither candidate will have won a majority of all convention delegates, and won’t until superdelegates vote in July. That’s the “lie” she is warning about. Sanders, for his part, has kept campaigning aggressively across California and telling the tens of thousands of people who have flocked to his rallies not only that they can win, but he keeps promising he will bring fundamental change as president. His supporters believe he represents a rare, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime chance, to change America and the political system for the better.
EndFragment