Tipsheet

Former Bill Clinton Advisor: Hillary Doesn't Have The Nomination Locked Up

Hillary Clinton may not have the nomination wrapped up, a former Bill Clinton advisor wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. In fact, a loss in California could completely derail Clinton's path. In one poll of the Golden State, Clinton only has a two-point lead over Sanders, and voter registration figures aren't exactly in her favor.

To this end, data from mid-May show that there were nearly 1.5 million newly registered Democratic voters in California since Jan. 1. That’s a 218% increase in Democratic voter registrations compared with the same period in 2012, a strongly encouraging sign for Mr. Sanders.

A Sanders win in California would powerfully underscore Mrs. Clinton’s weakness as a candidate in the general election. Democratic superdelegates—chosen by the party establishment and overwhelmingly backing Mrs. Clinton, 543-44—would seriously question whether they should continue to stand behind her candidacy.

I'd say Clinton is right to be worried. Polling has been all over the place this election (looking at you, Michigan), and there's likely to be some form of backlash against the role of superdelegates at the convention that could tip the scales even closer.

This, of course, is absolutely stunning when one looks at the history of this election. Hillary Clinton has effectively been the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2016 election since she lost the nom in 2008. She's had eight years to curry the favor of the American people, and she's got a solid chance of losing the nomination to a 74-year-old socialist. Amazing.