A former Bill Clinton aide said Tuesday that following a Hillary loss during the June 7th California Democratic primary, the Democrat establishment will panic and force “white knight” Vice President Joe Biden to “rescue the party.”

“Mr. Biden would be cast as the white knight rescuing the party, and the nation, from a possible Trump presidency,” Doug Schoen of The Wall Street Journal wrote in an editorial. “The inevitability behind Mrs. Clinton’s nomination will be in large measure eviscerated if she loses the June 7 California primary to Bernie Sanders. That could well happen.”

Hillary is currently limping to the finish line in the primary election with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Her 268 pledged delegate lead over Sanders is not in jeopardy to be overtaken with only 908 delegates remaining, but the Secretary of State’s dwindling party influence following the Inspector General’s report, and the pending results from the FBI Criminal Investigation into her personal email server is causing some Democratic elites to look towards a “plan B” in Biden.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden speaks to members of the media in the Oval Office of the White House [Photo by Andrew Harnik/AP Images]]

Barack Obama and Joe Biden speaks to members of the media in the Oval Office of the White House

[Photo by Andrew Harnik/AP Images][/caption]

According to Schoen, Vice President Joe Biden has said that he regrets “every day” his decision not to run since stating last year he wouldn’t run due to family concerns.

“A Sanders win in California would powerfully underscore Mrs. Clinton’s weakness as a candidate in the general election. Democratic superdelegates —chosen by the party establishment and overwhelmingly backing Mrs. Clinton, 543-44 — would seriously question whether they should continue to stand behind her candidacy,” he writes.

Both candidates are heading into a tight contest in California, which allocates its 475 pledged delegates proportionally based on results. Currently, Hillary holds a two point lead over the Senator in a Public Policy Institute of California poll, while others show the Secretary with a lead greater than a nine points.

It’s important to note that those surveys were published before the State Department’s report came into public view.

Sanders, on the other hand, has been polling consistently well against Donald Trump in a hypothetical general election. Coupled with his strong numbers against the Republican presumptive nominee, the senator hopes to lure some of Hillary’s 543 so-called “superdelegates” by winning California, thereby having considerable momentum heading into the DNC Convention in July.

“I think we have an excellent chance to win California, and it is just possible that we might win it in a significant way,” Sanders said to New York Times reporter Yamiche Alcindor.

“And if we win California, and if we win South Dakota, and North Dakota, and Montana, and New Mexico, and New Jersey … and [the] following week do well in Washington, D.C., I think we will be marching into the Democratic convention with an enormous amount of momentum.”

The Democratic establishment is starting to show signs of waking up to Clinton’s weaknesses. Instead of throwing its unfettered support behind the only other Democratic candidate, Bernie Sanders, who they cannot stand because he threatens to end their cozy ties with Wall Street and the virtually endless campaign donations, Schoen believes party elites will swap Hillary for a Biden/Warren ticket.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks at the California Democrats State Convention in Anaheim, Calif. [Photo by Damian Dovargane/AP Images]

“To win over Sanders supporters, he would likely choose as his running mate someone like Sen. Elizabeth Warren who is respected by the party’s left wing.”

Warren is respected by both centrist Democrats and progressives alike, but such a move, however unlikely, could shatter the party if the convention is contested and even cause violence from protesters.

“All of these remain merely possibilities,” Schoen said. “But it is easier now than ever to imagine a scenario in which Hillary Clinton–whether by dint of legal or political circumstances–is not the Democratic presidential nominee.”

[Photo by John Locher/AP Images]