Bernie Sanders scored a commanding victory in Nevada's US presidential caucuses, cementing his status as the Democrats' national front-runner. Photo / AP
Bernie Sanders scored a commanding victory in Nevada's US presidential caucuses, cementing his status as the Democrats' national front-runner. Photo / AP
Editorial
EDTIORIAL
Bernie Sanders' impressive victory in the first diverse state to vote in the US Democratic primary puts him in the box seat to secure the nomination.
According to the entrance poll for the Nevada caucuses, the senator from Vermont scooped up voters across the board, suggesting he has potentialto expand his movement of young, liberal supporters.
Sanders won most men and women, both whites and Latinos, voters aged up to 65, people across the ideological spectrum and those both university-educated and not.
If he can continue to win, more voters will back that success. He is the most likely candidate to gain a majority of pledged delegates.
Former Vice-President Joe Biden, who was leading in Nevada up until nearly two weeks ago, got his campaign off life support with a second-place finish. He could follow that with a win in South Carolina next weekend but is struggling for funds and still faces a battle to be the leading moderate challenger.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden accompanied by his wife Jill Biden, granddaughter Finnegan Biden, and state director Kendall Corley in South Carolina. Photo / AP
CNN data on ad spending in states voting on Super Tuesday next month shows that billionaire Mike Bloomberg has dished out US$159.7 million, fellow businessman Tom Steyer US$38.5m and Sanders US$10.8m. Of the others, only Senator Amy Klobuchar hurdled the US$1m barrier with US$1.8m in spending. But the states that best offered a chance for Klobuchar and Senator Elizabeth Warren to show strength in – Iowa and New Hampshire – have been and gone. Former mayor Pete Buttigieg, who finished first, second and third in the initial contests, remains in the hunt for now.
Sanders' early momentum has ignited a debate over just how electable a general election candidate he would be against US President Donald Trump should he get the nomination.
By a traditional sizing, the self-described democratic socialist looks vulnerable to demonising as an old-school lefty with expensive policy prescriptions.
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, pictured in Salt Lake City, has spent US$159.7 million. Photo / AP
But the 2016 US election upended conventional opinions about what would work and what voters wanted. Everything that has happened since suggests the US is still on that rollercoaster.
Former Obama strategist and CNN analyst David Axelrod tweeted after Nevada: "Generally, you can go a long way in politics by betting against conventional wisdom. We're relearning that lesson. Again."
Sanders' personal authenticity is his calling card. Like Trump, he has his own base of loyalists. His official account tweeted a blast of triumphalism at the weekend: "I've got news for the Republican establishment. I've got news for the Democratic establishment. They can't stop us."
While it's a jarring statement for a party frontrunner to say, it gets to the political moment. Distrust of party operatives and high-handed government that pushed the US into wars has been building for decades. Sanders is addressing the activists, independents and non-voters over the heads of the long-time party faithful and officials.
Legendary former newsman Dan Rather tweeted: "I suspect the existential threat of the climate crisis, especially for younger Americans, hangs over this election in ways that are under appreciated by many in the political and punditry class."
I suspect the existential threat of the climate crisis, especially for younger Americans, hangs over this election in ways that are under appreciated by many in the political and punditry class.
Sanders could well struggle to attract the suburban moderates who helped to power the Democrats' House of Representatives victory in the 2018 Midterms.
But for now, in the deeply polarised US political environment, it's the moderate candidates, unmoored to a clear, defining argument, who are struggling to nail their primary colours to the mast.
