Bernie Sanders lost four out of five Democratic primaries to Hillary Clinton Tuesday evening, which has convinced many in media that the Vermont senator’s presidential campaign is at last dead in the water.
“As somebody who is legitimately impartial between these candidates, I feel like there is no way Senator Sanders ends up with the nomination,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow after the primaries.
The Vermont Press Bureau added in a similar note, “After suffering four more losses Tuesday … Bernie Sanders must now plot a way forward for his campaign without [a] viable path to winning the nomination.”
The senator’s path to the nomination, once simply narrow, “has essentially eroded,” they argued.
An op-ed published on foxnews.com was more blunt in its assessment of the Vermont lawmaker’s chances of winning the party’s nomination.
“[T]here is simply no pathway for Sanders to win,” wrote Julie Roginsky. “By staying in the race until early June, he is misleading his most ardent supporters into believing that he can pull a rabbit out of a hat and win the nomination. He is siphoning resources away from a general election campaign. He is needlessly driving up the negatives of the likely Democratic nominee.”
“The math simply does not add up for Senator Sanders. He and his seasoned team of advisers know it,” she added.
Clinton glided to several easy electoral victories Tuesday evening in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut and Delaware.
Sanders didn’t get shut out entirely, however, as he was able to claim a single victory in Rhode Island.
Still, even with his win in the Ocean State, Clinton’s victories moved her closer to the number of delegates (2,383) needed to land her the nomination.
The former secretary of state currently has 2,151 delegates to her name, according to the Associated Press, while Sanders has only 1,338.
There are still 1,500 delegates up for grabs in the Democratic primary.
Sanders’ losses Tuesday evening have many in the press suggesting he is finished, and that Clinton has the nomination in the bag.
Clinton’s victories, “removed pretty much any remaining doubt about whether she will be the Democratic nominee,” Slate’s Josh Voorhees wrote in an article headlined, “Bernie Sanders Knows He Can’t Win the Nomination Now.”
His colleague Jamelle Bouie argued meanwhile that Sanders would do well to fight to the bitter end. However, Bouie also wrote that it seems quite clear the Vermont lawmaker “can’t win.”
Cleveland.com Jeff Darcy added to the fray, writing Wednesday that, “By winning 4 out 5 primaries Tuesday, Hillary Clinton’s insurmountable lead grew more insurmountable.”
“The only race Sanders is in now, is the one against Ted Cruz and John Kasich, for who is more in denial,” he added.
Some in media are treating the notion that Sanders will soon drop out of the race as a foregone conclusion, as they are already predicting what his next move will be.
“Bernie Sanders is no fool. He’ll back Clinton when he drops out,” read the headline to a Washington Post op-ed authored by Dana Milbank.
“Elimination is coming. Even before Clinton padded her lead with Tuesday night’s wins, Sanders needed to win 59 percent of remaining delegates, or 71 percent if you include superdelegates,” he added. “That isn’t going to happen.”
Sanders and his team have maintained they will stay in the race until the very end. But recent reports suggest he may be taking a more realistic view of his prospects.
The senator’s campaign is reportedly letting go off “hundreds of field staffers,” according to Politico.
Sanders’ campaign is, of course, putting on a brave face, and they said Wednesday they’re simply restructuring his operation.
“We’re 80 percent of the way through the caucuses and primaries and we make adjustments as we go along. This is a process that we’ve done before of right-sizing the campaign as we move through the calendar,” Sanders campaign communications director Michael Briggs told Politico.
