LOS ANGELES (AP) – With the primary season’s biggest prize in play, Hillary Clinton has fashioned a strategy to reprise her 2008 victory in California when she defeated Barack Obama by running up big margins with Hispanics and women. Bernie Sanders is hoping for an upset to sustain his argument to stay in the race.
There is another historical backdrop for Clinton: Her husband locked up his first presidential nomination in the California primary in 1992. This year, the state’s June 7 Democratic primary offers the largest trove of delegates in the nation and gives Clinton the opportunity for a turnaround after Sanders embarrassed her with recent wins in West Virginia and Indiana
She’s got the party’s nomination all but clinched, no matter what happens, but a loss in the Democratic stronghold would be a stinging setback and refresh questions about her electability in November.
Sanders, with only a wisp of a chance of overtaking Clinton’s delegate lead, has hinted at a California surprise though he concedes he faces a daunting climb. At a rally in Stockton this week, the Vermont senator said that if he can rack up big wins in California and other endgame primaries, “I think you are looking at the Democratic nominee.”
June 7 amounts to a capstone on the primary season – with voting also in New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota. Clinton could lose every state and still become the nominee.