Sanders Plans to Win at Contested Convention

Bernie Sanders, who currently trails Hillary Clinton by 263 pledged delegates (438 when counting super delegates), not only believes he'll end up with more delegates than his opponent, he thinks he'll come out of a contested convention with the nomination, Politico reports. "I think it’ll be an interesting Democratic convention," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver tells CNN. The Sanders campaign doesn't think either candidate will get the 2,383 delegates needed to win the nomination outright and believes Sanders can swing support his way at the convention. That's especially true if he's able to convince Clinton-supporting super delegates, who are free to vote for anyone at the convention, to change sides if their states supported him in the primary.

The Clinton campaign doesn't see it the same way. The Hill quotes a memo from campaign manager Robby Mook calling Clinton's delegate lead "nearly insurmountable" and stating that the only way Sanders wins is by "overturning the will of the voters." He says Sanders would need about 60% of the vote in delegate-rich states like California, New York, and New Jersey. Obviously, the Clinton campaign doesn't think that will happen. But the Sanders camp says it doesn't have to. “We’ve mapped out a path to victory in our campaign in terms of delegates—pledged delegates—and we don’t have to win everywhere, but we do have to win most of the states coming up,” Weaver acknowledges, per Politico. (More Bernie Sanders stories.)