How exactly do you know a campaign has gone on for too long? When your candidate refuses to accept the math which confronts him. And this was in evidence today on CNN’s “State of the Union” when host Jake Tapper dared to point out that the chances of Bernie Sanders winning the Democratic nomination are now infinitesimally small.
Tapper began by telling Sanders:
“It seems unlikely that you’ll actually achieve the majority of the pledged delegates.”
Sanders got testy, responding to the remark by saying:
“I assume that most of the people who come to my rallies can do arithmetic. If I have 46 percent, she has 54 percent. The point that I was making is there’s something absurd when I get 46 percent of the delegates that come from real contests — real elections, and 7 percent of the super delegates.
“I am the stronger candidate because we appeal to independents, people who are not in love with either the Democratic or the Republican Party.”
The CNN host then reminded Sanders that the goal of a person who wants to be the nominee of a political party is to “secure a majority of the pledged delegates.” He then added:
“Should we assume that means that you believe the candidate who has the majority of pledged delegates by the end of this process should be the nominee?”
The Vermont Senator didn’t exactly answer the question, telling Tapper:
“I understand that it’s an uphill fight to go from 46 percent where we are today to 50 percent in the nine remaining contests, I got that.”
Once again Tapper attempted to bring Sanders back to the numbers:
“The question is just a simple, yes or no. Should the person with the most pledged delegates be the Democratic nominee?”
Sanders dodged the question a second time:
“I’m not a fan of super delegates, but their job is to take an objective look at reality,” Sanders opined. “So, we’ll see what happens.
“We are where we are right now! And where we are is we are fighting to win the pledged delegates. So before I can answer your question, let’s see what’s going to happen.”
I have supported Senator Sanders with contributions and my vote in the Georgia primary, but I have something to say to him: This race is over with. It’s time to move on and unify the party for the general election.
Here’s the exchange on CNN this morning:
Featured Image Via YouTube Screengrab
