Bernie Sanders and me here pictured together in New York City, October 2016
Bernie Sanders has taken a lead nationally among African American voters, as his presidential campaign continues to surge. Up to this point, Joe Biden had pretty much had the advantage with African American voters, and for a long time, this was an area that many felt was a potentially crippling weakness for Bernie Sanders.
That was always kind of a mystery to me, personally, though. After all, this guy was arrested while trying to actively protest racial segregation back in the 1960’s. He was there at the March for Washington in 1963 for Martin Luther King, Jr’s iconic “I have a dream” speech. And he has championed the vision of King consistently since then.
Yet, some were trying ti imply that Sanders had some kind of problem crossing racial boundaries, claiming that he would not and could not appeal to minority voters, much like many establishment Democrats are now claiming that Sanders has a problem with Jews, that his campaign and/or his followers seem to have an anti-Semitic bent. Which is ridiculous, of course, since Sanders himself is Jewish, and had family members killed during the Holocaust.
As for the problems with appealing to minorities, that seems to be a thing of the past. Frankly, I always thought that it was overblown by those establishment Democrats, anyway. Sanders had support from prominent members of the black community, including Dr. Cornel West, among others. Just yesterday, the Reverend Al Sharpton told the African American community not to fall into the trap of fearing Sanders because of the label “socialist” as he effectively endorsed Bernie Sanders.
In his recent win in the Nevada caucus, Bernie Sanders won the majority of votes across the board, winning among African Americans, among Hispanics, among young people, among women, among white men, even.
And just yesterday, the first very prominent establishment Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, just suggested that she would be fine with Bernie Sanders winning the Democratic nomination.
Things are going swimmingly well for Bernie Sanders and his presidential campaign right now. That of course does not itself guarantee anything, but it sure seems to bode well for his chances for Super Tuesday, which is coming up fast now, being only five days away!
Right now, Sanders holds leads in numerous Super Tuesday states, including a solid lead in the biggest state: California. He also is in a tight race with Biden for the lead in Texas, but has leads in quite a few other states, including, at least for now, the other New England states that will be up for grabs on Tuesday – Maine, Massachusetts (where he barely is clinging to a narrow lead over Elizabeth Warren, who comes from this state), and his own home state of Vermont, where he owns a commanding lead.
At least for the time being, Sanders looks to be the frontrunner, and he looks likely to remain such, and hopefully to even strengthen his hand significantly in that role, after the votes on Super Tuesday.
Because just like the supposed problem that he had with minority voters that has largely gone away, there once was this perception that Sanders was somehow unelectable.
Hard to keep making that claim sound even remotely legitimate if he just keeps winning race after race, though, isn’t it?
Below are the links to the articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry. The first one is from The Hill, and it basically reveals the latest information available on where the candidates are in terms of chances in each state for the upcoming Super Tuesday primaries. The second link is also from The Hill, and it is about how Pelosi says that she would be fine with Bernie Sanders at the top of the ticket. Finally, the last two links are for articles showing how African American voters are increasingly favorable towards Bernie Sanders, and that this area, which once seemed like a potentially critical weakness for Bernie, is now increasingly being regarded as a strength and a boost for his campaign:
Where the 2020 Democrats stand in Super Tuesday polls by Tal Axelrod, February 26, 2020:
Pelosi says she'd be comfortable with Sanders at top of ticket by Marty Johnson, 02/26/20
Sanders surpasses Biden among African American voters: Reuters/Ipsos poll by Chris Kahn, February 26, 2020:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-democrats-poll-idUSKBN20J2J9?fbclid=IwAR2XQK5oBl28tgbfAWZNmSF6h1Km7CTJj6sus4ZHfYcDZPIfY3upGuqhYTs
BLACK VOTERS PREFER BERNIE SANDERS OVER ALL OTHER DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES, NEW POLL SHOWS BY SHERAZ FAROOQI ON 2/26/20:
https://www.newsweek.com/black-voters-prefer-bernie-sanders-over-all-other-democratic-candidates-new-poll-shows-1489209?fbclid=IwAR2lgl145VukU5dNce1-vLVhggySPlt2VPrrupXCqJN8jcmLKu1iGap_69k
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