Bernie Sanders has won the Nevada Caucus. If there was some ambiguity in Iowa, because that race proved close enough to justify doubts and muddied waters, than there really are absolutely no doubts after this one.
So far as I write this (a little past 3:30 after being sound asleep until just about half an hour or so ago), roughly 50 percent of all votes have been confirmed, and Sanders has a very wide lead. He has more than double that of the next closest candidate, former Vice-President Joe Biden, and triple that of the man who, until recently, seemed to be emerging as the possible closest contender in the Democratic White House race, Pete Buttigieg, who nevertheless placed third.
Here are the more precise numbers thus far according to the Associated Press, as reported by the New York Times (see link below):
Bernie Sanders - 46.6 percent of the vote
Joe Biden - 19.2 percent of the vote
Pete Buttigieg - 15.4 percent of the vote
Elizabeth Warren - 10.3 percent of the vote
AmyKlobuchar - 4.5 percent of the vote
Others - 4 percent of the vote
Interestingly, the candidate who's official emergence into the Democratic White House race caused such a huge sensation for a while, Michael Bloomberg, was a complete non-factor. Many so-called moderates had great hopes for the former Republican Mayor of New York City, but the widespread public perception was that his performance on the debate stage in Las Vegas last week proved disastrous. He was targeted by pretty much everyone on the stage, and painted as an arrogant, self-serving billionaire with a false sense of entitlement, and no real answers to the huge number of problems facing this country. Some people expressed cynicism about his poor showing in the debate, wondering how he could hope to take on Trump in the general election debates, if he was so thoroughly beaten in the primary debates. Bloomberg himself even admitted later that it had been a rough night. He apparently had another one last night with these results, which will cast still more doubts on the legitimacy and viability of his self-funded campaign.
These results bode well so far for Sanders, and is the latest confirmation that he is emerging as the solid and clear frontrunner among Democrats. He has now taken the first three primaries, and poll numbers show him surging, as he has pulled close to Biden in South Carolina, taken a lead in Texas, and currently enjoys a huge lead in the biggest and probably most decisive state, California.
Some of the past winners in both parties who have won the Nevada Primaries have gone on to receive the nomination from their party in the summer, and that includes some who went on to win the White House. They include both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in 2012, John Kerry in 2004, and both Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000 (although it should be noted that Republicans opted not to have a contest in Nevada in 2000, although the state's delegates went to George W. Bush in the primary).
Below is the link to the New York Times piece that I used in obtaining about these specific results, as well as some of the historical data which I also used in writing this particular blog entry:
Nevada Caucuses 2020: Live Results and Coverage: Bernie Sanders has won the Nevada caucuses, according to The Associated Press, Reported by the New York Times, February 23, 2020:
Sources: Election results and race calls from The Associated Press. By Sarah Almukhtar, Michael Andre, Aliza Aufrichtig, Matthew Bloch, Larry Buchanan, Andrew Chavez, Nate Cohn, Annie Daniel, Andrew Fischer, Will Houp, Jonathan Huang, Josh Katz, Aaron Krolik, K.K. Rebecca Lai, Jasmine C. Lee, Rebecca Lieberman, Denise Lu, Jaymin Patel, Charlie Smart, Ben Smithgall, Rumsey Taylor, Isaac White and Josh Williams
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/22/us/elections/results-nevada-caucus.html
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