• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, June 7, 2016

Late last night, the Associated Press announced that Hillary Clinton attained the number of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

AP had spent the day canvassing super delegates, which ended up changing the electoral math -- pushing Clinton to the 2,383 delegate mark.

AP, however, added a caveat. Political editor David Scott explained: “AP will not call her the ‘nominee’ until she reaches that milestone in Philadelphia next month, when the party’s delegates formally cast their vote at the convention.”

While Hillary Clinton was widely expected to capture her party’s nomination following the vote in New Jersey today, a loss in California, also voting today, could be another blow to what has been a tough campaign for the front-runner.

With the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders held a rally in San Francisco just as the news from the AP hit the push notifications on supporters’ phones.

Despite the electoral math, die-hard Sanders supporters in California could be galvanized by what they consider a premature coronation by the “mainstream media,” which has been widely criticized throughout the primary campaign.

During the rally, Sanders pointed to the importance of high voter turnout, announcing that, if Californians came out to vote in droves, he would win the largest primary in the country. Low turnout, however, would most likely mean a loss for the self-styled democratic socialist.

It is difficult to dispute AP’s decision to call the race. Secretary Clinton has 3 million more votes than Sanders and a sizeable lead in pledged delegates. And with six months until the election, Clinton is eager to pivot to full-battle mode.

Yet the more Sanders pushes back, Democrats worry he could delegitimize Clinton in the eyes of many voters, a move which would have disastrous effects come the general election.

The counter-argument is that Clinton should welcome the challenge, which could potentially keep Bernie supporters engaged throughout the remaining months of the cycle, enough that they will feel like they’ve been heard by the Clinton campaign.

It looks as though the Sanders camp will fight through to the convention at the tail-end of July. Spokesman for Sanders, Michael Briggs, chastised the untimely decision from the AP: “It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgment, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee’s clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of super-delegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer.”