Hold up.

This morning the mainstream media began declaring that the Bernie Sanders campaign was now near death.

This is ridiculous.

After primaries and caucuses in just three states so far (Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada) Bernie Sanders has earned 51 delegates.

Guess how many Hillary Clinton has? It must be huge, right?

Nah.

She also has 51 earned delegates.

Bernie Sanders applied for conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War. He is a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, and he decries the Military Industrial Complex that so many veterans have been a part of.

It may come as a surprise then, that thousands and thousands of veterans are "feeling the Bern," as Sanders' supporters are proud to proclaim. So what is it about this Senator from Vermont that has veterans passionately fighting for his election?

Sanders is and has been one of the most vocal champions for active duty service members, veterans, and veteran's rights for the last three decades.

That's right -- the democratic socialist from Vermont, who applied for conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War, has been standing up for veterans for a long, long time -- and Veterans have taken notice.

Now, at a crucial point in the race, Clinton finds herself under financial stress. The Bernie Sanders money machine keeps churning, sweeping up millions of dollars more than the Clinton campaign has been able to find of late, positioning the democratic socialist from Vermont to compete in states where he was never expected to be a threat.

As Clinton’s network of fundraisers in cash-rich regions like Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area struggles to fill events where tickets typically cost $2,700 — the maximum a donor can give in the primary — Sanders is not holding any. His money comes almost entirely online and keeps coming and coming, far faster and more steadily than small donations do on Clinton’s website.

Clinton’s rainmakers have grown anxious. She began the month with $18 million more in the bank than Sanders, but he is replenishing funds so fast that he has been able to vastly outspend her on the campaign trail lately, enabling him to start building support even in states where she had a months-long head start.

Clinton is again fishing for contributions in California, with events planned up and down the coast Sunday and Monday. Yet her campaign anticipates that Sanders will raise more than her in February, as he did last month.

“From where we sit, she is right on track with plenty of room to grow,” said Andy Spahn, whose political consulting firm advises Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg. “Nothing fuels fundraising like winning, so let’s talk after Super Tuesday.”

Former California state Treasurer Phil Angelides and Board of Equalization member Fiona Ma, both of whom have raised more than $100,000 for Clinton, said in interviews that they also were confident that Clinton was where she needed to be.