Fresh off three decisive caucus victories, campaign officials for Sen. Bernie Sanders said Monday he has the momentum to top Hillary Clinton in pledged delegates by June and can win over enough unpledged "superdelegates" to claim the Democratic presidential nomination.
“Reports of our death are greatly exaggerated,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager. “We are on a path to victory.”
Clinton still enjoys a nearly insurmountable lead in delegates, but Sanders is pushing back against the notion that she has the nomination virtually locked up.
His campaign on Monday cast Clinton as a “weakened frontrunner” struggling to inspire young voters and draw interest from independents, who could play a crucial role in the general election. Sanders' campaign officials highlighted polls showing he outperforms Clinton in general election matchups against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
“This isn’t a blip in the data,” Sanders’ pollster Ben Tulchin said during a conference call with reporters. “This is an overwhelming preponderance of evidence that Bernie is a stronger general election candidate than Hillary Clinton and these are things that Democratic voters in the states ahead and superdelegates, quite frankly, have to consider very seriously.”