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Bernie pulled off a "victory" in Michigan and proves he still has staying power (and will likely stay around till the convention no matter what). It really is good to see a competitive race in at least one of the partys primaries. It is also good to see contestants at least on the D-tribe side actually debating the issues. I used the quotes on the word "victory" above because although Bernie won (which IS a huge deal momentum wise), it would up actually being a tie in the delegate count awarded. Couple that with Clinton win (overwhelming) in Mississippi which is a winner take all state, she wound up increasing her delegate count on the night.
It will be interesting to see just how Next Tuesday (and beyond) shapes up on the D-tribe side.
Last edited by tennyson (3/09/2016 11:07 am)
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Michigan was a big score for Bernie. It was the first primary where he was able to get a good amount of African American support.
And as Bernie has done generally well in the northern states, it stands to reason that he could over-perform in Ohio and Wisconsin.
And even better for any Pennsylvania Democrats, there could be a reason to vote in the primary as Hillary may still not have enough committed delegates to claim the nomination.
That said, here are some troubling numbers for Bernie.
In Mississippi, among African-American voters 65 and up:
Hillary 95%
Bernie 5%
To be fair, at that age, you may not be able to hear the Bern, much less Feel the Bern.
But yeah, overall the Democratic party is trending black and brown. Without that demographic on his side, I don't see how Bernie can beat Hillary.
But he is keeping it interesting.
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I came across this map that shows a pretty remarkable split regionally between the Clinton voter and the Bernie voter
I think what this may tell us is that if you're oppressed, either economically or racially, you're a Clinton voter whereas if you are well to do you're a Bernie backer.
Why do you think that is?
Discuss
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Oppressed economically you're a Clinton backer - not if you look at donor lists.
Racial divide - I don't think it has anything to do with oppression, financially or otherwise. I think it has more to do with the legacy of Bill Clinton and the familiarity with the Clinton name among Black/Hispanic voters.
Bernie's deficiencies are that he comes from a small Northeastern state, he has little support from the DNC, and the nagging misunderstanding of what a Democratic SOCIALIST is. Unfortunately, most people hear only SOCIALIST, equate that with COMMUNIST, which equates to evil empire and enemy.
What I still find interesting is support by age group. Clinton is favored by older voters while Bernie is extremely popular with young voters. I guess that is part of the revolution in politics theme Sanders has emphasized which appeals to younger voters. I remember how horrified my parents were when I affixed a Eugene McCarthy poster to my bedroom window and actually volunteered to engage in canvassing operations for him. They were certain I had gone to the dark side.
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I must say, when I saw the thread title I thought there must have been a story that Bernie died and this post was letting us know he was still alive.
I really am surprised age hasn't come up during this election, but I guess ince both him and Hillary are pretty old, they can't attack the other on it