Northeast Corridor

The pundits are calling the Democratic presidential nomination for Hillary Clinton.  Even though the state primaries aren't done yet, they have all looked at Hillary's huge victory in New York and have decided that Bernie Sanders is done.  They're urging him to quit now in order to ensure that his progressive movement carries on after his own candidacy is over, but I really don't see how Hillary carries the progressive mantle when she has so many other standards to bear.  Some of them are double.

Although the primaries in California and New Jersey will likely be pivotal in the selection of the Republican presidential nomination battle between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, California won't matter on the Democratic side, and New Jersey, being New Jersey, will matter even less than that.  Hillary is certain to lock up the nomination after Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maryland provide the path to it.  Good.  I was going to vote for Sanders in the New Jersey primary, or maybe Martin O'Malley if Sanders is already mathematically eliminated and O'Malley is still on the ballot, but that would require me to register as a Democrat - independents can't vote in New Jersey primary elections - and, quite frankly, I'd rather not associate myself with a party on the verge of dying a richly deserved death.  If Hillary is the nominee, don't expect me to vote for her; I'll support a third-party candidate first.  Unless New Jersey is in play, and I hope it isn't.              

Trump is already pivoting to the general election in order to shore up support for his battle in the fall against Clinton; it looks increasingly likely he will be the Republican presidential nominee.  As always, Democrats expect to defeat him handily in November.  And they laugh at anyone who suggests that he has a chance of beating Hillary.  But then, they were already laughing at Martin O'Malley anyway, so why stop here?  I have a feeling, though, that O'Malley, who uttered this warning back in March, may have the last laugh.