I support Bernie Sanders. Of the current crop of presidential candidates, he is the one I would most like to see become President of the United States. I believe he is an honest, honorable public servant and I agree with nearly everything he says. I have gone to a Bernie event, met him in person, and he is the only political candidate to whom I have ever donated money. So I take no joy in what I am about to say. But it ain't gonna happen.
Math doesn't lie. And the math is bleak for Bernie:
Hillary Clinton has won 58% of the pledged delegates this primary season. If she continues to accrue them at that rate — not counting superdelegates — she will lock up the Democratic nomination on April 26th. Assuming superdelegates continue to back her at the rate they have done, she will lock it up on April 19th when New York votes.
The Sanders campaign asserts that he can still win this thing, but that's a stretch. Bernie has won 42% of the pledged delegates so far in the race. In order for him to arrive at 2,383 and the nomination, he would need to win 67% of the remaining delegates. While mathematically possible, such a scenario is unprecedented and highly implausible, on the order of 20 to 1 against.
On the Republican side, the most likely scenario based on candidate performance is an open convention. Donald Trump has won 46% of delegates so far; at that rate he will go to the convention about 100 short of the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination.
Ted Cruz, who has won 30% of the delegates so far, could still win it, at least in theory. But his hill is even steeper than Bernie's. In order for Cruz to get to 1,237 he'd need to win 78% of the remaining delegates, a feat so unlikely as to be laughable. He will almost certainly go into the convention with the second highest delegate total, but he will probably be at least 400 short of a majority. Kasich seems likely to arrive at the convention with no more than 350 delegates, a solid third but nearly 900 short of what he would need.
The obvious solution would be a Cruz/Kasich ticket — together they should have enough delegates to get to 1,237 with a little room to spare. But that assumes the delegates behave. After the first ballot, however, they are no longer bound (pledged to vote for a particular candidate). Equally, Trump could offer Kasich the VP slot and lock it up, but I suspect the Ohio governor would be less likely to go for this.