Why Hillary Clinton Needs to Win California..(She doesnt..need to win...but like to see a end to BS [View all]

[Iamaartist]

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/first-read-why-hillary-clinton-needs-win-california-n583051


Why Hillary Clinton needs to win California next week

Yes, Hillary Clinton is just 72 delegates away from crossing the 2,383 magic number needed for a majority of delegates to win the Democratic convention. Yes, she's likely to hit that milestone before polls even close in California (due to the New Jersey primary and its 126 pledged delegates). And, yes, even if she loses in California by 10 points, her lead over Bernie Sanders in pledged delegates would still be twice the size of Obama's lead over Clinton in 2008.

But here's the reason why Clinton needs to beat Sanders in California next week: She doesn't want to give him any legitimate rationale to remain in the race beyond June 7 or June 14 (the final primary in DC). Why? Because as our colleague Dante Chinni writes, the moment Sanders exits the race, her poll numbers against Trump will increase. "[T]o get a better look at where the Clinton-Trump race might stand after the nominating dust has settled, we recalculated the latest NBC/WSJ poll with Clinton capturing 70 percent of the Sanders-only vote. The result: those Sanders-only voters are worth an extra five points to Clinton. In the NBC/WSJ poll, Clinton's advantage over Trump goes from three points to eight points and she leads 51 percent to 43 percent."

Maybe that's why Clinton has canceled an event in New Jersey this week to spend more time in California, as NBC's Kristen Welker reported on "Today" this morning.

the past month is move the goal posts while trailing Clinton by 270 pledged delegates and more than 700 overall delegates. Here was Sanders before New York's primary, which he lost by 16 points: "We will win a major victory here in New York next Tuesday." And here he was before the Pennsylvania primary, which he lost by 12 points: "You know what? I think we're going to win here in Pennsylvania next week." And here was Sanders on "Meet the Press" last Sunday: "I think we have a good chance to win in California, maybe win big, and maybe win four or five of the other states that are off on June 7th… California is the big enchilada, so to speak."

Given these past statements, even if Sanders loses in California, it's possible to see him continue his campaign. But a loss in the Golden State would leave him without any legitimate rationale to flip superdelegates, especially when he trails in pledged delegates and the popular vote. And Sanders even acknowledged that reality on "Meet": "Obviously, if we don't do well in California, it will make our path much, much harder. No question about it," he said. The current Democratic delegate math:

In pledged delegates, Clinton currently holds a lead of 270 delegates

Clinton 1,770 (54%)
Sanders 1,500 (46%)

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