As US Primaries Rumble On, Betting Markets Declare the Sanders Campaign All but Dead

Jeff Weaver, the campaign manager for Sanders, said that his candidate would stay in the race all the way to the convention even if Clinton had the pledged delegate and vote lead at the conclusion of the primary season.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations convention in Philadelphia, on April 7, 2016. David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP

“The race for the Democratic nomination is in the home stretch and victory is in sight,” declared Hillary Clinton in the victory speech heralding her resounding New York primary triumph over Bernie Sanders. If anything, that’s an understatement.

Heading into five high-stakes primaries on April 26, it’s difficult now to envisage any path that could lead Bernie Sanders to victory over Clinton in either pledged delegates or the popular vote. There is even less chance that Sanders’ supporters will be “feeling the Bern” come the July nominating convention, when the party’s superdelegates are added into the equation.

Yet on MSNBC, Jeff Weaver, the campaign manager for Sanders, said that his candidate would stay in the race all the way to the convention even if Clinton had the pledged delegate and vote lead at the conclusion of the primary season. This tells us a lot about the nature and purpose of the Sanders campaign for some time now: more than a protest movement, but less than a serious run for the nomination.