Hillary and the Super Delegates

By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Facebook Page

06 June 16

just got a call from a TV producer asking me if Bernie will drop out if Hillary Clinton becomes the "presumptive" Democratic nominee Tuesday evening.

"But nobody believes she’ll have enough pledged delegates by Tuesday night to put her over the top," I said.

"She'll have enough delegates, though," said the producer.

"Only if you count super delegates. But they won’t actually vote until the Democratic convention in late July."

"But Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee."

"That's because he already has the pledged delegates he needs and won’t depend on the votes of superdelegates at the Republican convention. The Republican Party has far fewer super delegates than the Democrats."

"This is just semantics," she said.

"No, it's not. If when the polls close in New Jersey on Tuesday -- or possibly even today in Puerto Rico -- you name Hillary Clinton the 'presumptive' Democratic nominee, millions of Bernie fans in California, Montana, New Mexico, and North and South Dakota might figure it’s not worth voting."

"So what do you think we should we call her?"

"How about the 'likely' nominee?"

"That's what we're calling her now," she said.