The Los Angeles Times has chosen its candidate, and that candidate is Hillary Clinton.
Both candidates have campaigned aggressively in the state despite its lateness on the campaign calendar and Clinton's nearly insurmountable lead in delegates. A first-place finish in California would enable Clinton to strengthen her moral as well as mathematical claim to the nomination. But if Sanders were to prevail, even narrowly, he would be emboldened in his effort to convince so-called super-delegates to shift their support from Clinton to him.
That is a long-shot campaign even if Sanders finishes first in California, not because the nomination process is rigged in Clinton's favor — it isn't – but because she has been more successful in appealing to voters. She has dominated the primaries, amassing 3 million more votes than Sanders (who has fared much better in caucuses) and she leads in pledged delegates. For that reason, some argue that Sanders supporters in this state should resign themselves to the inevitable and vote for Clinton on Tuesday.
We don't agree. Voters should choose the candidate they consider best qualified. This page has endorsed Clinton not because she is more likely to win the nomination but because she is vastly better prepared than Sanders for the presidency.
Sanders yesterday said that the Democratic convention will be a contested convention.
Said Sanders:
“The media is in error when they lump superdelegates with pledged delegates. Pledged delegates are real. Hillary Clinton will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to win the Democratic nomination at the end of the nominating process on June 14. Won't happen. She will be dependent on superdelegates…The Democratic National Convention will be a contested convention.”
Clinton currently has 2,313 total delegates — 1,769 of which are pledged and 544 of which are superdelegates — and she is expected to cross the 2,383-delgate threshold in the next few days to clinch the nomination. But Sanders, who has 1,501 pledged delegates and only 46 superdelegates, says he can still woo enough of her superdelegates between now and the Democratic convention in July to swing the nomination his way.
It's a tall order.
Watch Sanders speak:
