AND THEN RUN AS AN INDEPENDENT IF THINGS GO WRONG AT THE CONVENTION: Sanders defiant: ‘We still have a path to the nomination.’

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Wednesday expressed optimism over his campaign’s chances to win to win the nomination, despite having lost the state of New York Tuesday night to front-runner Hillary Clinton.

“We still have a path to the nomination, and our plan is to win the pledged delegates in this primary,” the Vermont senator said in an email to his supporters.

“Next week five states vote, and there are A LOT of delegates up for grabs. I am going to keep fighting for every vote, for every delegate, because each is a statement of support for the values we share.”

Sanders followed up with a fundraising pitch, asking supporters to chip in $2.70. Also included was a message he had sent out to supporters when he launched his campaign in April of last year.

Sanders currently trails Clinton in pledged delegates, 1,428 to 1,151. The count increases to 1930 to 1,189 when including unbound superdelegates. The former secretary of State needs just 435 more delegates to secure the nomination before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia at the end of July.

In the short time since its Empire State win Tuesday night, the Clinton campaign has been trumpeting the message that Sanders now has no shot at becoming the nominee.

“I don’t see a clear path for them at this point. The numbers are pretty daunting,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in an interview with Yahoo on Wednesday.

Never give up — never surrender!