Mr. Sanders, evidently, has decided that he is going to continue on despite losing the Democratic primaries. OK, that is his right, but let’s be clear for all our sakes: Democrats are not headed to a contested convention.
Bernie Sanders said on Sunday that he and Hillary Clinton were heading to a "contested" convention this summer because she will need superdelegates to secure the nomination, a claim that clashes with the accepted definition of a contested convention. He also said that superdelegates who have supported her should switch to him instead.
At a news conference in Washington, Mr. Sanders said that the Democratic convention in July would be contested because "it is virtually impossible for Secretary Clinton to reach the majority of convention delegates by June 14 with pledged delegates alone," and that she "will need superdelegates to take her over the top." He added: "In other words, the convention will be a contested convention."
I’ve been proud that Democrats have not engaged in the kind of word-play that Republicans revel in. And the fact that Republicans may be headed to a contested convention as a result of their own political dysfunction has been a political plus for Democrats in their overriding goal: defeating the Republicans.
It will be unfortunate and inaccurate if we somehow allow people to get confused into the typical game of false equivalence, with the networks and press portraying the Democratic party as equally divided, dysfunctional and disorganized in this election cycle. That is not true. Both parties are not headed to contested conventions.
I am not sure how we should describe this if Mr. Sanders continues to refuse to concede gracefully and unite for the good of the party. But it is something closer to: “The runner up Democratic candidate Mr. Sanders refuses to concede, and will be carrying his protest candidacy on to the convention floor until the last second. It is unclear what, if any, damage Mr. Sanders’ tactics will do to the efforts of the Democratic nominee to win the general election. ”