AP Declares Clinton Winner of Democratic Primary

While Bernie Sanders continues to have a tempestuous love affair with himself (I am beginning to wonder if he is equal to or worse than Donald Trump in this regard) and appears unable to concede that he has lost the Democrat presidential primary race to Hillary Clinton, the Associated Press has declared that Clinton has enough pledged delegates and super delegates to clinch the Democrat nomination.  Moreover, even should Sanders perform reasonably well in tomorrows primaries, given the proportionate allocation of delegates, Clinton will merely expand the cushion of delegates that she needs. Both the Washington Post and Politico are carrying stories on the delegate count.  Will this be enough to bring Sanders back in touch with reality?  My guess is probably not. With Sanders, it is now all about him and satisfying his overweening ego.  Here are excerpts from the Washington Post:

LOS ANGELES — Hillary Clinton has secured enough delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination, according to the Associated Press, emerging from a long and bruising primary season to become the first woman to lead a major party in the race for the White House.

A bitter nomination battle that Clinton was once expected to win in a walk ended abruptly late Monday, as she claimed exactly the number of delegates needed to secure victory in her contest against Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, according the AP’s latest tally.

Clinton was widely expected — even inside her own campaign — to clinch the nomination Tuesday, when California, New Jersey and four other states are scheduled to vote. But according to the AP, Clinton continued to pick up new commitments from delegates over the weekend and on Monday that effectively guarantee her the nomination.

President Obama could endorse Clinton as soon as this week, not waiting for the Democratic convention in July, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.
An Obama endorsement would be a significant boost to Clinton as she seeks to unify Democrats after the difficult primaries. It would send a strong message to Sanders and his supporters that they should coalesce around Clinton, something Sanders has indicated he is far from ready to do.

Politico adds this:

A combination of pledged and super delegates put Clinton over the mark in her contest against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to the AP count.

Her campaign manager, Robby Mook, shrugged off the news, pointing to the upcoming contests on Tuesday.

"This is an important milestone, but there are six states that are voting Tuesday, with millions of people heading to the polls, and Hillary Clinton is working to earn every vote," he said in a statement. "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."

Before the AP updated its count and put her over the top, Clinton was just 23 delegates shy of the 2,383 needed to clinch the nomination, and with six states holding primaries or caucuses, she was expected to easily cross that threshold.
 But given her reliance on superdelegates to reach a majority, Sanders has vowed to wage a bitter battle all the way to the Democratic National Convention in July, insisting that nothing is official until the ballots are tallied in Philadelphia.

Through out this primary contest, I have gone from somewhat liking Bernie Sanders to now seeing him as a delusional crank who cares more about placating his own ego than anything else.   In terms of egomania, he has turned int a Trump mini me.