Counting Democrat noses

There’s some serious angst being generated — both in the media and even more so among supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders — about what may be the inevitable moment Hillary Clinton hits that magic number of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination.

And what if that moment happens at 8 p.m. on the East Coast next Tuesday — even as the postwork day rush of California voters is just headed to the polls? What is the impact of all those “breaking news” bulletins announcing “Clinton wins nomination” on the whisker-close California primary? Do Sanders voters just make a U-turn on the freeway, pick up a pizza and call it a night?

You can bet Clinton won’t be shy about stepping in front of the cameras, say, moments after the networks call the New Jersey primary that same night, graciously grabbing the crown and plopping it right on her own head.

The Associated Press delegate count for Clinton currently stands at 2,312 — just 71 short of the 2,383 needed for nomination. Voters in the U.S. Virgin Islands (12 delegates) and Puerto Rico (67 delegates, seven of them superdelegates) go to the polls this weekend. Sanders supporters are already crying foul over the decision by Democratic officials in Puerto Rico — the head of the party backs Clinton — to cut the number of polling places from 1,510 to 455. But, hey, whoever said this game was on the up and up?

However, the AP delegate count — other media outlets are keeping their own tallies — includes 543 superdelegates, representing the party’s establishment, who say they will vote for Clinton. The Sanders campaign insists they shouldn’t be counted until the July convention because, well, they can change their minds.

And a Sanders win in California, where some 1.5 million new Democratic voters have registered since the start of the year, could turn around some of those superdelegates too.

So on the Democratic side it ain’t over till it’s over — even if Hillary Clinton says it’s so.