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Sheryl Canter

It’s Time for Bernie to Concede

I made this chart because I was frustrated with the emotional arguments I kept hearing with no basis in fact. These are real numbers — references are below.

Note the following:

  • When Hillary conceded to Barack Obama in 2008, she was leading in the popular vote. Leading. But she was behind by 124 pledged delegates (that’s 4 percentage points, 48% versus 52%), and Obama was ahead in super delegates (394.5 versus 280). Hillary could have contested Obama’s victory, but chose to unite the party. She strongly encouraged her supporters to back Obama, and nominated him at the convention.
  • So far in the 2016 primary, Hillary has won over 3.1 million votes more than Bernie, and has 321 more pledged delegates (not super delegates, pledged delegates). This is a 10 percentage point lead, versus the 4 point lead that Obama had over Hillary in 2008. She’s much farther ahead than Obama was in 2008 when Hillary conceded — so far ahead that Bernie can’t catch up in popular votes or pledged delegates. But rather than conceding, Bernie is attempting an end-run around democracy. He has vowed to contest Hillary’s nomination at the convention, and is trying to win the nomination himself by convincing Hillary’s super delegates to switch to him.
  • Bernie justifies this by citing polls saying he would beat Trump by larger margins than Hillary would. But those polls are misleading. Bernie has never been subjected to attack ads because Hillary doesn’t want to alienate his supporters and the Republicans want to run against him, but there is a lot to attack (see This Is What a Republican Attack on Bernie Sanders Would Look Like). Also, note the number of popular votes cast for each candidate. Trump has 1.3 million more votes than Sanders, and Clinton has 1.8 million more votes than Trump (and 3.1 million more than Sanders).

Clinton has won the Democratic Primary by every measure there is. Her lead in both the popular vote and pledged delegates is insurmountable. She has won according to the rules fair and square.

It’s long past time for Bernie to concede. His refusal reveals a self-interest that is inconsistent with his message. He is not acting in the best interest of the country.