Bernie Sanders keeps pushing Hillary Clinton. He may never catch up and she may get the nomination, but he is giving it a valiant effort. While there has been absolute craziness and novelty on the Republican side, the Democrats have been more staid and conventional.
Will a Low Key Campaign Hurt?
The question is, will the low key Democratic primary hurt the Democrats in the long run. People aren’t as energized. The Republican primaries are seeing a lot of interest and getting a lot of new people involved in voting and taking part. Will the divisiveness hurt them or will the emotions and fervor carry over and help them in the general election.
Moving Away From the Middle
The Republicans seem to be racing further to the right and away from the middle. They were already pretty far that direction before the campaign started. Bernie Sanders has surprised Hillary Clinton and his popularity has forced her to move more to the left than she would probably like. She has co-opted some of his message and blunted his surge because of that. But perhaps that was what he was hoping for.
Sanders Successes
Currently Sanders has won 7 primaries versus 11 that Clinton has won. Clinton has tended to win in more populous states with more electoral votes than Sanders has. Bernie Sanders crushed Clinton in New Hampshire. Most recently, he also won Kansas and Nebraska in what some called Super Saturday. Clinton won Louisiana. Prior to that though, Clinton had taken most of the Super Tuesday states. She dominated in the South and also won Massachusetts which was thought would go to Sanders in a close vote before the primary.
Clinton won Iowa, then Sanders won New Hampshire. Not just won, but crushed Clinton. Probably not a surprise because he is from Vermont next door. Then Hillary won Nevada and South Carolina. Next up was Super Tuesday. Sanders won Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma and of course Vermont, his home state. Clinton won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Sanders has won in whiter states and dominates in more rural areas. Clinton has done better in urban and suburban areas and in places that have a greater ethnic mix. Most recently, Sanders won Nebraska and Kansas while Louisiana went to Clinton.
Currently Hillary has 1123 delegates compared to Sanders’ 484. She is about half way to the number she needs to win the nomination. But it will be interesting to see as the elections move to other states with different demographics how Sanders will do. He isn’t out of it yet, but it is getting more and more difficult for him to overcome her lead.