Sanders makes last-ditch fundraising appeal

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is making a last-ditch appeal for contributions to his campaign ahead of Tuesday’s fundraising deadline for primary donations.

{mosads}“Let me be very honest,” Sanders wrote in an email to supporters on Tuesday. “Our path to victory is very narrow. It would take us defying every single expectation next Tuesday and making a very convincing case at the convention. But we have been fighting uphill from day one, and I believe we owe it to ourselves to try. That’s why your contribution before tonight’s deadline, the last of the primary, is so important.”

The pitch comes on the final day for primary campaign contributions and a week before California voters head to the polls. Sanders is hoping that a strong showing in the state, with its 475 unsecured delegates, will bolster his campaign. 

Front-runner Hillary Clinton, however, may have an insurmountable lead with pledged delegates, outpacing the Vermont senator 1,769 to 1,501.

“The last six states vote in one week,” Sanders wrote, “including California — the contest with the most delegates at stake in this race. And what today’s deadline will tell us is whether or not working people coming together and contributing small amounts of money can compete and win to the end against the millionaires and billionaires who have bankrolled Hillary Clinton’s campaign and her largest super PACs.”

A new poll on Tuesday showed that Clinton leads Sanders by 13 points in California and a RealClearPolitics average of state polls puts the former secretary of State at a 9-point lead. 

According to OpenSecrets, Sanders has raised $208.2 million, nearly all coming from individual donations.