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In reply to the discussion: Rachel Maddow assumes Rush's role for the Dem Party: King Maker [View all]SunSeeker
(51,550 posts)Sanders won Indiana by just 5 percentage points, in a open primary tailor made for him, after spending $1.8+ million in ads and Hillary did not spend a penny. He needed to win by a lot more.
Even after Sanders got +5 delegates vs. Hillary last night, in order to go into the convention with more pledged delegates (ignoring that Clinton will already have more total delegates to lock the nomination on the first ballot), Sanders would need to win the following contests by the vote margins indicated:
Guam: Sanders +43
West Virginia: Sanders +52
Kentucky: Sanders +35
Oregon: Sanders +57
Virgin Islands: Sanders +43
Puerto Rico: Sanders +17
California: Sanders +31
Montana: Sanders +62
New Jersey: Sanders +13
New Mexico: Sanders +18
South Dakota: Sanders +40
North Dakota: Sanders +67
District of Columbia: Tie
Sanders' IN win still puts him further behind pace than he was yesterday.
As Rachel Maddow explained, in 2008 Obama only had a 4% lead in pledged delegates, and needed SDs to get a majority, yet before the convention Hillary conceded even though she had the majority of popular votes. She did not contest the convention -- she conceded well before the convention and stood firmly in support of Obama at the convention, uniting Democrats.
Rachel went on to point out that Hillary is 11% ahead of Sanders in pledged delegates.
And of course, Hillary has millions more in popular votes than Sanders.
Yet Sanders insists on a divisive "contested convention" unless Hillary attains the majority of unpledged -- even though 15% of total delegates are SDs. The only way a Dem candidate could get a majority of pledged delegates is by having an utter blowout in the primary. Obama didn't have that. He needed SDs to get a majority of total delegates. Yet Hillary conceded. As she should have. As anyone in Hillary's position should have. Sanders is nowhere near in as strong a position as Hillary was in 2008, yet he won't concede before the convention.