Did Bernie Sanders win California?

Americans are losing confidence in their democracy.

Did Bernie Sanders win California? According to many Sanders supporters the answer is yes, and it was stolen away by a corrupt election apparatus bent on suppressing votes for Sanders, and aided by a news media that was quick to call the race for Clinton in the crucial state. But does the evidence agree with this hypothesis?

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Bernie Sanders made a huge impression on California, barnstorming through the state and stopping in places that have otherwise never seen a presidential candidate in recent memory. Early on, Clinton was expected to seize California as a matter of course, she enjoyed a lead exceeding thirty points over Sanders for a long time. But as the race stretched on, California became relevant to both sides and the people of the Golden State, usually ignored during elections because of their late primary and solid alignment with the Democratic party, witnessed a true race.

Clinton remained confident, even as Sanders toured the state drawing tens of thousands of people to his enthusiastic rallies. She was so confident, she attended fundraisers on the east coast.

Then polls just prior to election day hinted at a major reversal of fortune. Sanders was either within the margin of error, or he was actually in the lead.

Clinton's campaign has been plagued with potential liabilities. There's a risk of an indictment, albeit extremely remote. There's concerns that she is in the pockets of big business, and worries that she will lose to Trump. The only candidate who could confidently beat Trump, according to the polls, was Bernie Sanders. Most Americans dislike Clinton, her unfavorability ratings are only exceeded by Trump's. She's widely seen as dishonest, greedy and power hungry. Her husband does not help her popularity either, as he is plagued with accusations of severe sexual impropriety.

And we cannot forget that Sanders kept performing better and better as time went on. A Sanders upset in California could serve as a referendum on the entire Clinton candidacy.

California is the nation's most populous state. It has cosmopolitan urban areas and vast rural areas. It has a large immigrant population. Most of its voters are No Party Preference or Democrats. If Clinton loses California, it would seriously compromise the strategy of putting her on the Democratic ticket. It would also give Sanders the ammunition he needs to flip superdelegates to his side before the convention.

And so the votes rolled in on June 7, and Sanders supporters were shocked. Clinton won the state handily. The media was quick to call the race too, after only a minority of the ballots were counted. And the night before, the Associated Press claimed that Clinton already had enough support to become the official Democratic nominee. That report was later retracted because it was a blatant falsehood.

And the media has proclaimed Hillary Clinton the first woman to head a presidential ticket, that is also a lie. Nor is she the Democratic nominee because she actually doesn't yet have the votes. She has pledges. The superdelegates don't vote until the convention. And Sanders has picked up several more superdelegates since June 7, suggesting he may flip more as the convention draws near. A solid scandal or gaffe by Clinton could seal the deal for Sanders, but given Clinton's experience and teflon luck, it's extremely unlikely.

At best, we can say Clinton is the presumptive nominee. But to be clear, she has not been selected yet.

In California meanwhile, the process of counting the ballots continues today. And there's controversy over which ballots should be counted and which discarded. A number of anomalies were reported including people who were registered for No Party Preference (NPP) being denied a Democratic Crossover ballot and denied the option of voting in the state's Democratic primary, which is an open primary.

Sanders has traditionally done well among NPP voters in other states.

On the evening of June 7, the first reports came in. Clinton was projected to win California by a cool 63 percent! The newsmust have come as a relief to her supporters. But since then, her lead has slipped substantially. She is now at just 54 percent.

Sanders has also flipped several districts that were initially called for Clinton.

However, most of the ballots are now counted. The difference between the two candidates is in excess of 400,000 votes. The likelihood that Sanders will overcome this deficit is virtually zero.

Did Hillary Clinton, or Alex Padilla, California's Secretary of State, or the Democratic apparatus in California engage in shenanigans to deliver the state to Clinton?

It's possible, but even if they did, the likelihood that enough evidence could be uncovered to prove the case is virtually nil, unless, of course, an email or some other document were stolen from secret DNC files to make the case.

Enter Guccifer 2.0, the mysterious hacker who has in fact done just that. What he has leaked to the world suggests that the Democratic National Committee viewed the election process of Clinton more as a coronation, and had no plans for a serious race. This attitude, which became quickly entrenched in the DNC establishment, has turned many Democrats sour against their own party's hubris.

Unfortunately, Guccifer 2.0 has not mentioned California. And while it must be conceded that there are some election anomalies, these are surprisingly common, if inexcusable.

So at this point, we are compelled to say no, that Clinton did not steal California from Sanders. She won it fair and square. But this isn't the problem we need to pay attention to anymore, California is proverbial water under the bridge.

The right question to ask at this point is why don't American have confidence in their own democracy and what mistakes can we correct to improve it? Unless we can answer that question and solve it, we can expect to be dogged by accusations and allegations of criminal mischief until the people themselves give up entirely on a system that already feels like a sham.

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