NEW YORK — Defying opinion polls and expert predictions, US Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders aims to seize the party’s White House nomination from Hillary Clinton’s grasp with a last-ditch come-from-behind triumph in California.
By far the most populous US state, California is the largest prize of the state-by-state nominating contests, and the vote on June 7 is one of the last before Democrats convene in July to select a nominee for the Nov. 8 presidential election.
An aggressive schedule of large rallies is planned along with heavy purchases of TV, radio and online advertising in three languages and a “far, far more expensive” campaign effort than in any other state, Sanders campaign sources disclosed.
“I think they’re still riding rainbow unicorns if they think there’s a path,” said Steve Schale, a Florida-based strategist, of Sanders’ bid for the White House.
California has been a reliable source of campaign funds for Clinton, and opinion polls show her ahead there by as many as 14 percentage points. The statistical analysis media site FiveThirtyEight gives her a 91 percent chance of winning the state primary.
The Sanders campaign push aims to net as much as a 10-point win in California, helping him deny the front-running Clinton the 2,383 convention delegates she needs to clinch the nomination and give him the momentum to force a contested convention where he can try to win over the “superdelegates,” those not decided by a state nominating contest and free to support anyone, the campaign sources said.
Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, has eroded Clinton’s lead in California, according to a Field Poll released on Friday. Clinton led Sanders by only 6 points in that survey, down from a double-digit lead earlier this year.
“With California what we’re going to do is something that (Sanders) really likes to do: Barnstorm the place,” said Tad Devine, Sanders’ senior adviser, acknowledging Sanders’ underdog status against Clinton, the former secretary of state. — Reuters
