Bernie Sanders Says He's Staying In And It's 'Good For The Democratic Party' [View all]

[Playinghardball]

Bernie Sanders is staying in the race until the last primary and the nation will be better off for it, he told NPR's Steve Inskeep in an interview that will air Thursday on Morning Edition.

Inskeep, passing on questions he had invited on Twitter, asked Sanders if he is "threatening [his] revolution" by continuing to run, potentially scaring some voters away from supporting Hillary Clinton — the likely Democratic nominee — in November.

"I think we are perpetuating the political revolution by significantly increasing the level of political activity that we're seeing in this country," Sanders responded. He added later, "I think it is good for the United States of America, good for the Democratic Party, to have a vigorous debate, to engage people in the political process."

Sanders elaborated, noting that by staying in the race, he is energizing voters and, therefore, in fact boosting the Democratic Party to victory in November. He contended that Democrats do well when turnout is high and that Republicans do poorly when turnout is high.

"So I'm going to do everything I can to stimulate political discourse in this country and get young people, working people, involved in the political process," he said.

That means he will stay in the race "until the last vote is cast" after Washington, D.C.'s Democratic primary June 14.

But Can He Win?

The Vermont independent senator also stressed that he thinks he can still win, despite Clinton's massive delegate lead.

"We think we have a path toward victory — admittedly it is a narrow path," Sanders said.

A very narrow path: He would need 65 percent of all remaining pledged delegates for a pledged majority and 82 percent of all delegates — including remaining superdelegates — to pull past Clinton overall, according to NPR's Domenico Montanaro.

But Sanders said he believes if he is able to win by large margins in upcoming states like Oregon and California, as he has in Washington (with nearly 73 percent of the vote) and Utah (79 percent), he can pull ahead.

More here: http://www.npr.org/2016/05/04/476766494/bernie-sanders-says-hes-staying-in-and-its-good-for-the-democratic-party