Think Clinton already has the White House? Think again

Trump and Sanders win West Virginia, but Clinton gets same number of delegates as Sanders.

Democratic rival Bernie Sanders has won the West Virginia Democratic Primary by a large margin, while Donald Trump also took the state plus Nebraska. Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee, while Sanders is likely shut out despite his victory, thanks to party politics.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Sanders and Trump were big winners last night with both insurgent candidates winning West Virginia. Trump also gained a win in Nebraska, although he is now running uncontested.

The victory for Sanders is badly needed, especially after suffering defeats in New York and Pennsylvania. Sanders beat Clinton handily, 51 to 36 percent. His win reveals that a large number of Democrats are deeply displeased with Clinton.

The only thing saving Clinton is the fact Trump has higher unfavorability ratings than she has.

Despite her loss to Sanders in West Virginia, Clinton will pick up the same number of delegates from the state. Both candidates will have 17 delegates each. Clinton makes up her difference with superdelegates.

Superdelegates are party insiders whose job is to ensure the party promotes the stronger general election candidate. They exist to stop insurgent candidates who would merely go on to lose the general election. However, this year the insurgent candidate is the stronger candidate. So why are they still backing the weaker choice?

Hillary Clinton entered the race nearly a year before Sanders did, giving her first-in market advantage. From the start, she was the heir apparent of the Obama regime. As a party insider, she was also able to play politics with the superdelegates, who are themselves establishment insiders. With high affinity and a lot in common, there's no surprise that the superdelegates would pledge fealty to Clinton. Of course, they did so over a year too early, which is another issue.

Yet Sanders is the man who is virtually guaranteed to beat Trump. Meanwhile, Trump and Clinton are virtually tied in the key battleground states where the election will be decided. Trump is winning in Ohio, and Clinton has a small lead in Pennsylvania and Florida. The general election is more than five months away, but five months is a long time.

Five months ago, the Iowa caucuses hadn't even been held and Clinton was expected to make short work of Sanders. Now, we have a race that is much closer than anyone believed it would be, even Sanders himself.

In five months' time, Sanders has upstaged Clinton almost entirely. And he has done so while playing nicely with her. He has never challenged her on her emails or hit her very hard on her husband's infidelity or other scandals which the Republicans are sure to turn into major issues. If Sanders can compete so well with Clinton, playing softball politics, what happens when Trump turns the election into a prize fight?

And we should not believe Americans will side with Clinton in a fight. Americans love a good fight and they love winners, and Clinton has lost plenty in her political career. Meanwhile, Trump has defeated 16 rivals to become the presumptive nominee, even with all the party machinations against him.

Fueling the rise of Sanders and Trump is a wave of populism. Americans are angry and feel betrayed by the established political class, that has done plenty to help themselves along the way. Americans struggle with low wages, high prices and burdensome requirements, like Obamacare. Free trade agreements have cost millions of jobs. This anger is deep and even has many Sanders supporters contemplating votes for Trump, a fact that would chagrin even Sanders himself.

It's a strange system we have that promotes the loser over the winner and risks a prize like the White House when it's all but assured. But then, party politics have everything to do with inside deals and corruption, and nothing with common sense or the common people.

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