PD Editorial: Sonoma County getting a closeup look at Bernie Sanders at Cloverdale rally

Sonoma County residents seldom get a firsthand look at presidential candidates. Ralph Nader, who made a couple stops in 2008 as the Green Party’s nominee, is the last one to make a public appearance here.

Of course, with one of the last primaries and an all-but-preordained outcome in general elections, it’s unusual for major party candidates to stump anywhere in the Golden State.

As for collecting campaign cash or hobnobbing at Bohemian Grove - well, those are stories for another day.

This year, the Democrats are battling it out in California. With polls showing a tight race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders four days before Tuesday’s primary, the candidates and their surrogates are crisscrossing the state. Sanders, joined by actress Susan Sarandon, is scheduled to drop in - literally - this evening for a rally at the Cloverdale airport.

Even if you aren’t a Sandernista, it ought to be a good show, perhaps involving a parachute.

The same can be said for California’s primary. A loss would be a setback for Clinton, but the path forward is clear. She is heavily favored to win Tuesday’s primary in New Jersey, so she’s likely to clinch the nomination hours before the polls close in California.

Indeed, the former secretary of state will arrive in Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention with a larger lead in both popular votes and pledged delegates than Barack Obama enjoyed eight years ago.

But our purpose today isn’t to diminish Sanders’ accomplishments.

Greeted as little more than a novelty when he announced his candidacy, the Vermont senator outlasted every Democrat except Clinton, winning 20 states so far. Along the way, Sanders energized young voters with his call for a political revolution, reshaped the party’s agenda and pushed Clinton toward more liberal positions on health care, trade policy and energy while calling her to account for cashing in with Wall Street speeches.

Sanders insists the contest isn’t over. “Our campaign has been dismissed more times than we can count … but we’re still standing,” he told supporters in Palo Alto on Wednesday.

When he speaks tonight in Cloverdale, expect Sanders to renew his criticism of the superdelegate system that allows Democratic elected officials and party insiders - most of whom support Clinton - to vote at the convention. Republican leaders, finding Donald Trump at the top of their ticket, must wish they had similar influence on the party’s nomination.

They are, however, falling in line. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Sen. Marco Rubio and other Republicans are setting aside fierce criticisms and endorsing Trump. House Speaker Paul Ryan added his name to the list on Thursday.

Meanwhile, some of Sanders’ most ardent supporters say they won’t vote for Clinton under any circumstance. They might want to think about the last presidential candidate to visit Sonoma County. Nader also ran on the Green banner in 2000, winning 97,000 votes in Florida and igniting arguments about whether he delivered the election to George W. Bush.

(Sanders’ rally begins at 7:30 p.m. at Cloverdale’s airport.)