Harry Reid To Bernie Sanders: 'Sometimes You Just Have To Give Up'
LAS VEGAS (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Bernie Sanders needs to recognize that "sometimes you just have to give up," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday.
Reid said his fellow senator should not carry his presidential campaign through to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, as he intends to do.
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Instead, Reid said, Sanders needs to recognize that "math is math" after next week's primaries in California and New Jersey, when Hillary Clinton is expected to rack up enough delegates to effectively clinch the nomination.
In California, 475 Democratic delegates will be divvied up on election day, the most of any state. Many will be doled out based on the outcome in 53 congressional districts, each amounting to its own battleground.
A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll showed Clinton with only a two-point lead over Sanders in California -- 49 to 47 percent.
"I've never been too good at math but I can figure that one out. I think he better do a little mathing," Reid told The Associated Press in an interview in his home state of Nevada.
Reid, who has endorsed Clinton, stopped short of calling on Sanders to drop out. But he made his views clear in direct and even harsh terms.
Reid said Sanders has a right to continue his campaign through the convention, but added: "No, I don't think he should. I don't know what that's going to prove. Sometimes you just have to give up. I've lost before. The numbers aren't there."
Sanders is disputing the suggestion that Clinton will be able to claim to have effectively clinched the nomination after next week's primaries. He says that's because Clinton's delegate totals will include "superdelegates," the party leaders selected by Democratic officials instead of voters. Sanders is hoping he can win California and change the minds of some superdelegates now backing Clinton.
Reid said he doesn't plan to express his opinions to Sanders himself after next week's voting. "I don't think I'm the one to deliver that message. If he calls and asks me I'll be happy to, but I'm not going to go chasing him around to tell him what math is," Reid said.
According to CBS News, Clinton has 2,312 of the 2,383 delegates needed for the nomination. Sanders has 1,539 delegates.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)