Ana Kasparian is a co-host and producer of the online news show, The Young Turks. She is on Twitter (@anakasparian).

Bernie Sanders was defeated by rival Hillary Clinton in the New York primary despite the impressive momentum his campaign had, winning seven of the eight contests leading up to his loss. Now more than ever the pressure is on for Sanders to wrap up his campaign and begin rallying support for his Democratic rival. While I recognize the extreme challenges that lie ahead for Sanders, I disagree that he should end his campaign now.

For those who are fighters rather than defeatists, a battle is only over when it’s impossible to win.



Sanders continues raising awareness about the issues that affect Americans the most, whether they want to vote for him or not. Income inequality and government corruption are both unfortunate realities in the United States. Sanders has changed the political discourse and shifted the focus onto these issues as the only candidate who repeatedly addresses them in speeches and debates. Getting money out of politics is crucial to saving the country's democratic process, and the more Sanders talks about it the more we have a chance in finding a solution.

And while Clinton’s double-digit win in New York has raised the bar much higher for Sanders, it’s not impossible for him to win the nomination. But it is becoming more and more difficult to believe he can pull it off, especially when he’s not polling well in a state like Maryland.

Clinton appears to have won 139 of New York’s pledged delegates while Sanders won 106. Obviously the numbers continue to widen the delegate gap between Clinton and Sanders. Clinton now has a total of 1,446 pledged delegates while Sanders has 1,200.

But there is a tiny bit of hope for those who support Sanders. Keep in mind that there are still 1,668 delegates up for grabs in the remaining primaries, and a candidate needs 2,383 delegates to win the nomination.

The primaries on April 26 have a total of 462 delegates, and a recent Quinnipiac survey found Sanders trailing Clinton by just 6 points in Pennsylvania, which has 210 delegates. If Sanders fails to win Pennsylvania I’m ready to call it quits for Sanders. I’m just not ready now.

For those who are fighters rather than defeatists, a battle is over when it’s impossible to win. Does anyone ever demand a stop to an NBA game if the underdog team is losing by eight points and there’s only 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter? We expect each team to fight to the bitter end, and that’s what I expect of a fighter like Sanders.

He proved the nay-sayers wrong in Michigan, he closed huge gaps in polls that indicated Clinton would beat him by large margins, and regardless of how steep the hill ahead of him is he still has a shot in climbing it.



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