They say “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” But is that true politically? Or will Bernie Sanders’ big political win in Vegas and all of Nevada in the Nevada caucuses mean he’s now unstoppable in his quest for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination?
The reason: it will be hard for his rivals to argue that Sanders appealed to only one part of the Democratic Party’s longtime coalition. He had big wins in several categories. And it shows further signs that the traditional “Mighty Middle” isn’t too appealing this time to many young and minority voters.
The “Sensible Center” now looks like the “Sagging Center.”
“Sen. Bernie Sanders won a resounding victory in the Nevada caucuses Saturday, providing another boost to an insurgent campaign that is challenging the Democratic establishment and stifling the plans of rivals who still hold out hope of stopping him.
Sanders’s advantage in Nevada was overwhelming, with substantial leads in nearly every demographic group, allowing him to set down a marker in the first state with a significant share of nonwhite voters. Sanders expanded the electorate by attracting relatively large numbers of first-time caucus-goers, providing momentum as the race shifts into a critical stretch over the next 10 days.
He prevailed among those with college degrees and those without; those living in union and nonunion households; and in every age group except those over 65. He won more than half of Hispanic caucus-goers — almost four times as much support as his nearest rival, former vice president Joe Biden — and even narrowly prevailed among those who identified as moderate or conservative. Despite attacks on his health proposal by the powerful Culinary Union, he won in caucus sites filled with union members.
“In Nevada we have just put together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition, which is going to not only win in Nevada, it is going to sweep this country,” Sanders said during a lively rally in San Antonio, after networks had declared him the winner.
Sanders signaled throughout his speech that he is beginning to see himself as the likely nominee, given his momentum heading toward Super Tuesday on March 3, when 14 states cast their votes. A day after saying he was fighting against the Democratic and Republican establishments, the self-described democratic socialist adopted a more unifying tone.
“We are bringing our people together — black and white and Latino, Native American, Asian American, gay and straight,” he said.
Incomplete results suggested a distant second-place finish for Biden, who has repeatedly predicted he would do well in states with more nonwhite voters. It would be Biden’s strongest showing to date, but it would hardly prove his assertion that he can win states with a large share of minorities.”
““We have just put together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition, which is not only going to win in Nevada it’s going to sweep the country,” he said, predicting another victory in Texas next month.
While Mr. Sanders boasted that “no campaign has a grass-roots movement like we do,” and was bathed in “Bernie, Bernie!” chants, he otherwise ignored his Democratic opponents.
Mr. Sanders’s success, and the continued uncertainty over who his strongest would-be rival is, makes it less clear than ever how centrist forces in the party can organize themselves for a potentially monthslong nomination fight. The moderate wing is still grappling with an unusually crowded field for this late in the race, the lack of an obvious single alternative to Mr. Sanders and no sign that any of those vying for that role will soon drop out to hasten a coalescence.
As results were being counted on Saturday night, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the billionaire investor Tom Steyer and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota were all competing for what would clearly be a distant second-place finish.”
What was surprising to some pundits in the print and broadcast media was how diverse Sander’s winning coalition was. NBC News:
“Put “Bernie Bros” on the back-burner.
It’s the army of sobrinos and sobrinas — the Spanish words for nephews and nieces — who should strike fear in the hearts of Bernie Sanders’ rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination and party elites after he ran up the score among Latino voters in the Nevada caucuses Saturday. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and other Latino backers of Sanders refer to him fondly as their “tío,” or uncle.
Sanders was the choice of 54 percent of Hispanic caucus-goers Saturday on his way to steamrolling to the most convincing victory of the primary season, according to an NBC entrance poll. His closest competitor, former Vice President Joe Biden, racked up 14 percent, with no other candidate cracking double digits.
Those results signaled that the energy Sanders has poured into building a more diverse coalition than his failed 2016 campaign is paying off at just the right time. He can now stake the first claim — less than two weeks before the “Super Tuesday” contests in 14 states — to having won a state where white, Hispanic and black voters are all represented in substantial numbers.
“If you can’t put two out of those three together, you should start figuring out your exit plan,” Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said of most of Sanders’ rivals — excluding Biden and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg — in a telephone interview.”
In politics it’s certainly true that it’s not over until it’s over, but Sander’s win should cause some conventional wisdom to shift in the punditry class. Will it change some in the GOP — and should it?
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.