Democratic rivals aim to slow Sanders' momentum after his big win in Nevada

[webfact]

Democratic rivals aim to slow Sanders' momentum after his big win in Nevada

By Jarrett Renshaw and Simon Lewis

 

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders celebrates with his wife Jane after being declared the winner of the Nevada Caucus while holding a campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., February 22, 2020. REUTERS/Callaghan O'hare

 

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contenders fanned out across the United States on Sunday to try to blunt Bernie Sanders' momentum after his dominant victory in Nevada solidified his front-runner status ahead of 15 key nominating contests in the next 10 days.

 

Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont and self-avowed democratic socialist, rode a wave of support across age, race and ideology to capture 47% of the county convention delegates in Nevada, with 50% of precincts reporting.

 

His latest victory is sure to stoke more concern among establishment Democrats who see him as too liberal to defeat Republican President Donald Trump in November. Now they have an additional worry that he may soon be unstoppable in his quest to win the nomination.

 

But the results in Nevada and the outlook for coming contests are doing little to push the rest of the field to drop out, leaving a cluster of more centrist candidates to divide the anti-Sanders vote and unable to build momentum.

 

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who had lackluster finishes in the first two nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, appeared headed to a second-place finish in Nevada. But at 19%, he trailed Sanders by a wide margin.

 

Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who won in Iowa and finished second in New Hampshire, was in third place with 15%. If the final results push Buttigieg below 15%, he may fail to win delegates, the key to securing the nomination.

 

Buttigieg's campaign sent a letter to the Nevada Democratic Party on Sunday calling for it to release data on early voting results, fix errors that might have arisen when counting absentee ballots and explain discrepancies the campaign found before any final tally is announced.

 

"Given how close the race is between second and third place, we ask that you take these steps before releasing any final data," Buttigieg's senior aide, Michael Gaffney, said in the letter, which was seen by Reuters.

 

A representative for the state party said the campaigns understood how the reporting process would work before Saturday.

 

"We are continuing to verify and to report results," the representative said in a statement. "We never indicated we would release a separate breakdown of early vote and in-person attendees by precinct and will not change our reporting process now."

 

'OWN THIS ELECTION'

Sanders' triumph on Saturday in the first racially diverse state in the campaign suggested he was reaching a broader coalition of Democratic voters with his unapologetic message of social and economic justice, including his signature pledge to provide universal healthcare for all Americans.

 

"Together we will defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country," Sanders told a cheering throng of supporters in Houston.

 

Biden was in South Carolina, where he hopes his record on civil rights and as Barack Obama's vice president will appeal to the state's many black voters ahead of a primary contest on Saturday.

 

"I don’t expect anything. I am here to earn your vote," Biden said at Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston. "You can own this election. It's yours to determine."

 

U.S. Representative James Clyburn, a top-ranking House of Representatives Democrat and an influential voice in South Carolina's African-American community, said he would not endorse a candidate until after a Democratic debate on Tuesday night.

 

Bernie Sanders secured a decisive victory on Saturday in the Nevada caucuses with broad-based support that suggests his surging campaign is attracting support from outside its long-standing base. David Doyle reports.

 

Speaking to reporters outside the church, Biden said he had spoken with Clyburn recently about a potential endorsement. “I'm not counting on anything but I'm hopeful."

 

Tuesday's debate will include activist billionaire Tom Steyer, who earned just 4% of the Nevada delegates. Steyer, who has advocated reparations to African Americans over slavery, qualified with a new CBS/YouGov poll showing that 18% of South Carolina voters favored him, placing him third.

 

Biden led the poll with 28%, but Sanders was close behind at 23%.

 

CANDIDATES FAN OUT

In Nevada, Senator Elizabeth Warren, who had been looking to jump-start her campaign after poor finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, trailed in a disappointing fourth place, while Senator Amy Klobuchar was fifth.

 

Warren was scheduled on Sunday to campaign in Colorado, one of the 14 Super Tuesday states where Democratic voters will cast ballots on March 3 to pick more than one-third of the pledged delegates who will help select a Democratic nominee.

 

Klobuchar was scheduled to be in Super Tuesday states Arkansas and Oklahoma, after visiting North Dakota, which holds a Democratic caucus on March 10. Buttigieg was set to speak in Virginia, yet another state where Democrats vote on March 3.

 

The Super Tuesday states will be the first nominating contests for former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who did not compete in the four early voting states but who has been rising in opinion polls.

 

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in North Charleston, South Carolina, and Simon Lewis in Las Vegas; Writing by Michael Martina and David Lawder; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Tim Ahmann and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-24

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[Tug]

Ahhh well yea they are all trying to be the nominee 

[khaowong1]

Does everyone forget, that the Nazi's were called the Nazi Socialist Party?  And talking about Socialism, I would like to point out Venezuela.  They were actually called The National Socialist German Workers' Party.

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by khaowong1
Mistake.

[Boon Mee]

And they are all a bunch of no-hopers... 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Boon Mee

[Cryingdick]

32 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

And they are all a bunch of no-hopers... 

 

The unviables.

[Chomper Higgot]

36 minutes ago, khaowong1 said:

Does everyone forget, that the Nazi's were called the Nazi Socialist Party?  And talking about Socialism, I would like to point out Venezuela.  They were actually called The National Socialist German Workers' Party.

 

What is it they say about gravitating to mentioning Nazis?

 

That aside, educate yourself o who and what the Nazi were and why they were not ‘Socialists’.

[Nyezhov]

Best thing that can happen to the Democratic Party is Bernie getting nominated and then crushed  in the election like a tin can in a press. Another Mondale or Dukakis. 

 

That will break the influence of the far left in the Democratic party, and bring us back to the days of the Clinton/Kennedy traditional Democrats. Let the Socialists form their own party and see how far they get.

[Paul Henry]

Nobody should forget the target is to beat Trump and get him out. Otherwise forget about future parties socialist or not .There will be no parties or elections once the Dictator Trump takes hold and continues to bribe his minions to do his becking and cover up his cheating, lying, and divisive ways

[Cryingdick]

11 minutes ago, Paul Henry said:

Nobody should forget the target is to beat Trump and get him out. Otherwise forget about future parties socialist or not .There will be no parties or elections once the Dictator Trump takes hold and continues to bribe his minions to do his becking and cover up his cheating, lying, and divisive ways

 

There will be elections it's just those of your ilk will constantly lose them one after the other. You need to fix your own house not constantly blather on about Trump.

[Jonnapat]

Democrats trying very hard to hand Trump another 4 years.

Disaster looms.

[pegman]

Bernie will beat Trump like a rug. 

[earlinclaifornia]

1 hour ago, Jonnapat said:

Democrats trying very hard to hand Trump another 4 years.

Disaster looms.

I see a HARD Left turn coming in America.

[Baerboxer]

5 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

What is it they say about gravitating to mentioning Nazis?

 

That aside, educate yourself o who and what the Nazi were and why they were not ‘Socialists’.

 

Most serious political scholars place the NSDAP (Nazis) on the extreme left of the political spectrum. Communism is also a doctrine of the far left, with former Soviet Socialist republics and other communist states including the word in their titles.

 

What makes you think they aren't "socialists"?

 

 

 

 

[Baerboxer]

4 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

Nobody should forget the target is to beat Trump and get him out. Otherwise forget about future parties socialist or not .There will be no parties or elections once the Dictator Trump takes hold and continues to bribe his minions to do his becking and cover up his cheating, lying, and divisive ways

 

That's what the Democrat party, politicians and supporters should focus on.

 

But it seems too many of the leaders are consumed with personal hatred and desire for vengeance. 

[malibukid]

6 hours ago, khaowong1 said:

Does everyone forget, that the Nazi's were called the Nazi Socialist Party?  And talking about Socialism, I would like to point out Venezuela.  They were actually called The National Socialist German Workers' Party.

 

Bernie is a Socialist Democrat.  Trump is a Autocrat, most Americans are not educated enough to differentiate between Socialism and Communism.  they conflate the two.  cold war thinking.  the kids do not remember the cold war and where not born then, they see countries like Denmark and see a more compassionate regime, free education, health care.  not gulags.

Edited February 24, 2020 by malibukid

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, pegman said:

Bernie will beat Trump like a rug. 

Given the opportunity, I believe that's true.

[malibukid]

1 hour ago, earlinclaifornia said:

I see a HARD Left turn coming in America.

and so the pendulum swings back.  history of the universe.  Yin than Yang

[malibukid]

1 minute ago, lannarebirth said:

Given the opportunity, I believe that's true.

like a drum, ba ba boom

[Centrum]

6 hours ago, khaowong1 said:

Does everyone forget, that the Nazi's were called the Nazi Socialist Party?  And talking about Socialism, I would like to point out Venezuela.  They were actually called The National Socialist German Workers' Party.

 

Venezuelans were actually called the nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party? Wow, what a unique view of history you have.

 

[Nyezhov]

3 hours ago, malibukid said:

Trump is a Autocrat,

Im sort of curious as to what autocratic things Trump has done compared to his predecessor?

[khaowong1]

6 hours ago, Centrum said:

Venezuelans were actually called the nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party? Wow, what a unique view of history you have.

 

I meant the Nazi's not Venezuela. I was not clear on my mention. 

[khaowong1]

7 hours ago, malibukid said:

Bernie is a Socialist Democrat.  Trump is a Autocrat, most Americans are not educated enough to differentiate between Socialism and Communism.  they conflate the two.  cold war thinking.  the kids do not remember the cold war and where not born then, they see countries like Denmark and see a more compassionate regime, free education, health care.  not gulags.

 Denmark. Denmark's progressive income tax tops out at 55.8%, and the average individual pays 45%. The Danes pay an 8% Danish labor market contribution tax, a 5% healthcare tax, 22.5% to 27.8% in municipal taxes, social security taxes of DKK 1,080 (USD 164) per year, and capital gains taxes of 27% or 42%.  Jus Saying.

[Cryingdick]

1 minute ago, khaowong1 said:

 Denmark. Denmark's progressive income tax tops out at 55.8%, and the average individual pays 45%. The Danes pay an 8% Danish labor market contribution tax, a 5% healthcare tax, 22.5% to 27.8% in municipal taxes, social security taxes of DKK 1,080 (USD 164) per year, and capital gains taxes of 27% or 42%.  Jus Saying.

 

Don't forget VAT. It's usually over 20% in these places if I remember right Cenmark is something like 24%.

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, khaowong1 said:

 Denmark. Denmark's progressive income tax tops out at 55.8%, and the average individual pays 45%. The Danes pay an 8% Danish labor market contribution tax, a 5% healthcare tax, 22.5% to 27.8% in municipal taxes, social security taxes of DKK 1,080 (USD 164) per year, and capital gains taxes of 27% or 42%.  Jus Saying.

And they live several months per year in relative darkness. But here's the other side of the coin: 

 https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/the-top-10-happiest-countries-on-earth-according-to-un.html

 

just sayin'.

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Don't forget VAT. It's usually over 20% in these places if I remember right Cenmark is something like 24%.

You guys managed to top 100% between you.

[Cryingdick]

4 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

You guys managed to top 100% between you.

 

Just looked it up and VAT in Denmark is actually 25%. So nothing I said was untrue I was a little low.

[ratcatcher]

24 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

And they live several months per year in relative darkness

I think you need to look at a map. Denmark is on the same latitude as the northern UK.

Northern Denmark is further south than the highlands of Scotland.

Here's a map.   

[lannarebirth]

22 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

I think you need to look at a map. Denmark is on the same latitude as the northern UK.

Northern Denmark is further south than the highlands of Scotland.

Here's a map.   

 

Yes, I know. We're less than a month from the vernal equinox and Denmark's dark just under 14 hrs/day. It's relatively lighter in the Summer months though.

 

[Monomial]

17 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

Nobody should forget the target is to beat Trump and get him out. Otherwise forget about future parties socialist or not .There will be no parties or elections once the Dictator Trump takes hold and continues to bribe his minions to do his becking and cover up his cheating, lying, and divisive ways

 

Which is exactly why Bernie is the only possible candidate for the job. Let's not forget why Trump won. It isn't because of what he stands "for", but of what he stands "against". And what Trump stands against is the last 5 decades of the status quo that much of America has come to hate. They are angry, they want change, and they'll even support a demagogue like Trump to get it.

 

Bernie is the only Democratic candidate who has a record of being against what everyone else supported. Example:

 

"I was on the picket line in opposition to NAFTA. We heard people tell us how many jobs would be created.

"I didn't believe that for a second because I understood what the function of NAFTA, CAFTA, PNTR with China, and the TPP is, it's to say to American workers, hey, you are now competing against people in Vietnam who make 56 cents an hour minimum wage."

 

This is the kind of anti establishment position that can actually win votes from those who don't understand what they want, but simply understand what they don't want.  The angry electorate will support anyone right now who gives them a group to blame and promises not to continue more of the same. Blaming trade, big corporations and Wall Street is almost as provocative as blaming immigrants. Positioned correctly, it could be a real winning strategy.

 

So I will make the statement again. If you want someone who can actually steal votes away from Trump in the states that matter, Bernie is the only guy who can possibly do that. If the Democrats put up another centrist, establishment candidate against Trump, they might as well just concede the election now and not even bother.