Sanders claims big win Nevada to tighten grip on Democratic race
23 February, 2020
Progressive firebrand Bernie Sanders claimed a decisive victory Saturday in the Nevada caucuses, solidifying his frontrunner status in the race to select the Democratic nominee who faces President Donald Trump in November's election.
Sanders was comfortably ahead with some ten percent of the vote reported, and his win is a substantial accomplishment in circumstances seen as a significant bellwether because it is the first various electorate to weigh in on the 2020 presidential race.
NBC News reported that the 78-year-old senator from Vermont was leading with 44.7 percent of the vote, accompanied by former vice president Joe Biden at 19.5 percent.
South Bend, Indiana's former Mayor Pete Buttigieg stood at 15.6 percent, while progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren was at 11.8 percent and Senator Amy Klobuchar well back at 4.3 percent.
"We won the favorite vote in Iowa, we won the brand new Hampshire primary, and according to three networks and the AP, we now have won the Nevada caucus," Sanders told a raucous rally, which responded with chants of "Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!"
"In Nevada we've just put together a multi-generational, multi-racial coalition, which isn't only likely to win in Nevada, it will sweep this country."
Sanders was speaking in El Paso, Texas, among the 14 states that votes on "Super Tuesday" on March 3, when he hopes his progressive policies including universal healthcare and raising the minimum wage will strike a chord with millions of Americans.
Some of Sanders's rivals, just like the moderate Buttigieg, already congratulated him on his Nevada victory. But the 38-year-old military veteran offered a stern warning against deciding on a self-described democratic socialist who sees "capitalism as the root of all evil" increasing against the populist Trump.
"Senator Sanders believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not forgetting most Americans," Buttigieg said in an address that took on a surprisingly coarse tone.
With Sanders coming in nearly tied for first in the debut contest in Iowa and winning New Hampshire the other day, he's in the driver's seat against his seven rivals as the race turns toward SC and Super Tuesday.
Trump offered a congratulations of sorts to Sanders.
"Appears like Crazy Bernie is doing well in the Great State of Nevada," Trump tweeted, maligning other prospects before adding: "Congratulations Bernie, & don't allow them take it from you!"
With the race soon taking on a national dynamic, several applicants like Klobuchar, Warren or congressman Tulsi Gabbard will be under great pressure to decide if they place it out past Nevada or South Carolina, or throw in the towel.
The centrist Biden, desperate to right an inventory ship after miserable showings in the first two states, told supporters he feels "really good" about his Nevada finish and must not be counted out.
"We're alive and we're returning," the onetime frontrunner insisted. "We're going to South Carolina to win and we're going to take this back!"
South Carolina includes a majority black Democratic electorate, and Biden leads polling there, riding his popularity among African Americans due partly to his eight years as popular president Barack Obama's deputy.
Sanders leads national polls with an average of 28 percent support.
That's 11 points before Biden and 13 points before billionaire media tycoon Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of NY who skipped campaigning in the four early states so that you can give attention to Super Tuesday.
Recently, Sanders has been largely unchecked by opponents who've focused more on blunting the advance of Bloomberg, who has poured a staggering $438 million of his personal fortune, an all-time record, into campaign advertising.
In NEVADA, caucuses were held in several of the city's world-famous casinos and hotels.
Unlike in a primary, where voting is by secret ballot, caucus goers vote publicly by standing with fellow supporters of their chosen candidate.
Keen in order to avoid the drawn-out embarrassment of the Iowa caucus, which relied on flawed technology to relay results, Nevada officials pivoted to a "very, very low-tech" system, said Jon Summers, a senior advisor to the state Democratic Party.
The machine involves phoning in leads to hotlines and backing them up with photographs of paper count sheets.
The vote tabulation has been considerably slower than four years back, due largely to new rules which require caucuses to report several sets of data.
But Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez told reporters that while the goal was to have results by Saturday night, the more important objective was "to obtain it right."
Source: japantoday.com