2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: The AP calling it didn't change anything of note [View all]Station to Station
(53 posts)AP didn't call California, it stated that Clinton had enough total delegates to win the nomination, a fact that wouldn't be disputed by Sanders.
After all, the goal was to turn the SD's already attached to Clinton. It should change absolutely nothing for Sanders; no one who has followed any political race ever should be naive enough to think that it wouldn't be called, and indeed no-one who has followed Sanders in anything but the most casual manner would believe he would end the day with the most pledged delegates.
The situation is exactly the same - Sanders needed to convince SD's to turn prior to the convention and given his argument for them doing that would be because he defeated Clinton in California, nothing should change. Indeed, a Sanders supporter who wouldn't turn out on the basis of an AP projection anyone who has been following the race knew would come today at the latest probably wouldn't bother showing up in November.
It's a silly, nonsensical excuse. If it were a one-off vote such as in a general election, of course it would be scandalous. It's not, and it changes nothing of the racw's overall dynamic.