Bernie Sanders isn’t about to drop out of the race. (Getty)
Bernie Sanders isn’t about to quit. Although he still trails Hillary Clinton in pledged delegates, Sanders has vowed to take the fight all the way to the Democratic Convention. He made that clear during his rally the night of the June 7 primaries.
Here’s what you need to know.
Bernie Sanders Is Not Dropping Out
Bernie Sanders has no intention of dropping out of the race. He addressed a crowd of thousands during his rally on election night, June 7, and told them that he had no plans to concede. He said:
… We understand that our mission is more than just defeating Trump, it is transforming our country.
This movement is more than Bernie…it is all of us together. Whether the corporate media likes it … we, together, we know what our job is. And that is to bring the American people together to create a government that works for us.
Next Tuesday we continue the fight in the last primary in Washington, D.C. … And then we take the fight, for social, economic, and environmental justice, to Philadelphia!”
He added that he knew it wouldn’t be easy. But he’s not giving up.
I’m pretty good at arithmetic and I know the fight … is a very, very steep fight, but we will continue to fight for every vote and for every delegate.”
Although Clinton has a considerable lead in California at the time of publication, the votes haven’t all been counted yet. Sanders said he expected the gap to narrow: “I suspect the gap (in California) will significantly diminish.”
The Democratic National Convention Will Be Contested
Although Hillary Clinton has been called the presumptive nominee, she won’t be able to get the Democratic nomination based solely on obtaining enough pledged delegates. She’ll need superdelegates to push her over the top, and they don’t vote until the Convention. Sanders is going to lobby those superdelegates himself, too. At a press conference in May he announced:
“The convention will be a contested contest. We intend to fight for every vote in front of us and for every delegate remaining.”
To read more about the delegate count and why Clinton doesn’t have the nomination clinched quite yet, see the following article:
Sanders Is Still Playing To Win and Will Lobby Superdelegates at the Convention
Sanders has said that he’s in this to win, even if that means lobbying superdelegates to support him at the Democratic National Convention in July. Although many superdelegates have endorsed Clinton, even long before their states’ primaries, they aren’t bound by that endorsement. In fact, superdelegates can change their mind at any time up until they cast their vote at the Convention. Of course, if Clinton maintains a big lead they may not change their minds unless something else happens, such as something major with her FBI email investigation. But Sanders is giving his supporters every possible chance to have the candidate that they want. We haven’t seen the last of Sanders.
