Bernie Sanders unveils plan to beat Hillary Clinton in the delegate chase

Bernie Sanders has a plan to win
(Image credit: Getty Images)

On Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign laid out their plan for winning the Democratic nomination, despite Hillary Clinton's lead among pledged and at-large delegates. It mostly involves momentum and persuasion. After beating Clinton by double digits in three caucuses over the weekend — in Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii — Sanders still trails her by about 250 delegates and 440 superdelegates. In a 45-minute phone conference, three top Sanders aides argued that Sanders can make up that gap by June and win the nomination by persuading the superdelegates that Sanders is the stronger candidate. Neither candidate will win with pledged delegates alone, senior adviser Tad Devine predicted.

Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said that Sanders has a "substantial" number of superdelegates up his sleeve, but that they aren't ready to go public yet. "It would be easy for them at this point to be pledged to Hillary Clinton, given some of the media narrative and the establishment support she has," Weaver said. Campaign press secretary Symone Sanders told CNN on Monday that "superdelegates are kind of like football recruits," explaining: "You know, they say they are coming but until they have signed on the dotted line and they're in practice, you don't know that they're all the way with you and that they're on your team." They'll sign with Sanders when they see he's winning, she added.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.