The Clinch: Hillary Clinton Wraps Up Democratic Nomination

There’s not a political expert in the country who would have bet money on any other outcome, but the news still came as a surprise. As Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders made their closing arguments ahead of Tuesday’s last big round of state primaries, the Associated Press rocked the world with a huge announcement: Following Sunday’s vote in Puerto Rico, Clinton had officially crossed the 2,384 delegate threshold to become the presumptive Democratic nominee. By the end of the night, most of the major news organizations came to the same conclusion.

Clinton, knowing that a loss in California will hurt her momentum going forward, was hesitant to give the reports much weight. Speaking at a rally in Long Beach when the news was announced, she said, “We are on the brink of a historic, unprecedented moment, but we still have work to do, don’t we? We have six elections tomorrow and are going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in California.”

The Sanders campaign denounced the AP’s declaration.

“It’s unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgment, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee’s clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer,” the Sanders team said in a statement. “Secretary Clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination. She will be dependent on superdelegates who do not vote until July 25 and who can change their minds between then and now.”

Can they, though? More importantly, what reason is there to believe that they will?

At this point, you have to wonder if this is genuine delusion on the part of Bernie Sanders or if he is using his leverage to get something out of Hillary Clinton. The only other possible explanation is that Sanders believes an FBI indictment might be headed for the former secretary of state, thus potentially leaving the nomination open for a candidate in no danger of a prison sentence.

No matter what the case might be, only die-hard Bernie fans still think there’s any chance of their guy becoming the nominee. The race is over, and frankly, it’s been over for a long time. The Democratic Party chose their nominee before a single vote was cast, and the rest of this has been little more than a charade. Sanders made things interesting, but he did not possess the Trumpian ability to overcome the establishment.

And if his supporters still want to shake things up in Washington, they only have one option left.

Come on over guys. Bernie couldn’t beat Crooked Hillary, but Trump can.