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On the eve of California's primary, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., addresses supporters on Monday, June 6, 2016, in San Francisco.(Photo: Noah Berger, AP)
WASHINGTON — Sen.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Bernie Sanders isn’t giving up, at least for now.
The Associated Press announced Monday night that Hillary Clinton has<span style="color: Red;">*</span>secured support from enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination. But Sanders' campaign<span style="color: Red;">*</span>continues<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to say<span style="color: Red;">*</span>some of those delegates -- the ones known as superdelegates who may support the candidate of their choice —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>will switch their allegiance from Clinton to Sanders at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>next month's Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
“Our job from now until the convention is to convince those superdelegates that Bernie is by far the strongest candidate against Donald Trump,” Michael Briggs, Sanders’ spokesman, said following the AP announcement.
The announcement's timing poses another set of challenges for Sanders, whose delegate deficit has long been all but insurmountable.
Key to his strategy is winning Tuesday's primary in delegate-rich<span style="color: Red;">*</span>California —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>where he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has campaigned for weeks —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and performing well in the five other states that also hold nominating contests Tuesday.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A strong showing<span style="color: Red;">*</span>could keep his campaign alive and help him make his case to superdelegates that he's preferable to Clinton.
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But the AP announcement could possibly diminish Sanders' media attention and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>turnout on Tuesday, which he has said is essential to winning California. The campaign acknowledged as much in an email to supporters, seeking contributions and volunteers to call California voters.
“Pundits and the political press want to call this race early before every last person votes,” wrote Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager. “That threatens to suppress voter turnout in New Jersey, California, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and New Mexico. But we’re not going to let that happen.”
At a Monday night rally in San Francisco, Sanders didn’t acknowledge the AP's new delegate total for<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clinton, according to National Public Radio. Earlier that day, Sanders declined to speculate at a news conference<span style="color: Red;">*</span>whether he would<span style="color: Red;">*</span>consider endorsing Clinton before the convention if he doesn't<span style="color: Red;">*</span>perform well in Tuesday's contests.
“Let’s assess where we are after tomorrow before we make statements based on speculation,” he said.
In his statement, Briggs said Clinton<span style="color: Red;">*</span>can't claim the nomination based on pledged delegates alone, and he noted that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>more than 400 superdelegates endorsed her before the first caucuses and before any other candidate had entered the race.
“It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgement, 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,” he said.
Clinton’s campaign declined to celebrate the AP's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>projection that she's essentially locked up the nomination. Her campaign manager, Robby Mook, called the projection “an important milestone” but said Clinton is working hard to earn every vote in Tuesday's contests.
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"We look forward to Tuesday night, when Hillary Clinton will clinch not only a win in the popular vote, but also the majority of pledged delegates," Mook wrote in a statement.
Sanders will hold an election night rally Tuesday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>night in Santa Monica, Calif. At a Monday news conference, he said he would later head back to Burlington, Vt., and then campaign in the District of Columbia, which holds its primary — the last one this Democratic<span style="color: Red;">*</span>campaign season<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— on June 14.
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