海角大神

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton almost had a winning night across the board Tuesday night. Almost.聽

Mrs. Clinton won Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, and Delaware. But her rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders managed to eke out a win of his own in Rhode Island. As the primary season winds down, Clinton has all-but clinched the nomination with 813 more pledged delegates than Senator Sanders. Clinton has 2,151 to Sanders with 1,338,. To clinch the nomination, a candidate needs 2,383.

But the Vermonter isn't giving up just yet.

鈥淭he people in every state in this country should have the right to determine who they want as president and what the agenda of the Democratic Party should be,鈥� Sanders said in a press release Tuesday. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we are in this race .鈥�

Sanders recently portrayed his opponent鈥檚 success as a regional phenomenon, likely to fade when the primary elections move away from the South.聽

鈥淭uesday鈥檚 results proved him wrong,鈥� reports The New York Times鈥� Michael Barbaro. 鈥淏ut her defeat in Rhode Island will sting somewhat because it feeds Mr. Sanders鈥檚 argument that so long as he is winning (even small states), .鈥�

And just like the New York primary last week, the results of Tuesday鈥檚 Democratic primaries were not gamechanging.聽

As 海角大神鈥檚 Peter Grier concluded after New York鈥檚 primary, 鈥渢he results don鈥檛 add or subtract momentum from anyone as much as show long-existing strengths and weaknesses and focus our attention on ... important, obvious conclusions about the nomination end games.鈥� Primarily, Sanders can鈥檛 win the nomination through pledged delegates alone: he will need to take the fight all the way to the Democratic convention in July.聽

And while Sanders鈥� win in Rhode Island backs up his argument that he still has a place in the Democratic race, it also spoke loudly of his enduring weaknesses: minority voters, party elites, and city wins.聽

When comparing unlabelled, statewide maps of Clinton and Sanders victories, it would seem as if the two candidates had equal support. (Or , where the Vermont Senator won 49 of the state鈥檚 62 counties, would look like Sanders had a resounding win.) But after comparing maps where major cities are identified, it is clear how Clinton won. On Tuesday, Clinton won the populated, state epicenters of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Hartford, Conn., and New Haven, Conn. Big cities 鈥� with their large minority populations 鈥� have long been a weakness of Sanders.

But the reasons why Sanders lost Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland are the same factors that worked in Sanders鈥� favor in Rhode Island. Of the five contests Tuesday, Rhode Island was the only state with an open primary, allowing votes from Sanders鈥檚 Independent, non-Democrat-registered supporters. And Rhode Island is predominately white, with an African American population 鈥� the smallest of all five states. Comparatively, and is African American.

鈥淔or all of that, the race isn鈥檛 over.... It鈥檚 likely, in fact, that he鈥檒l continue to have some state wins. What鈥檚 changed is that Sanders appears to accept that the once-narrow path to winning ,鈥� writes the Washington Post鈥檚 Philip Bump. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 how Bernie Sanders wanted the day to end. But a year ago, he and his activists 鈥� and his critics 鈥� would never have believed that an ending like this would be possible.鈥�