Sanders wins Alaska, first result in trio of contests

[rooster59]

Sanders wins Alaska, first result in trio of contests

LISA LERER, Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders won Democratic presidential caucuses in Alaska on Saturday, a victory he hopes will stoke a spring comeback against front-runner Hillary Clinton, who holds a commanding lead in the all-important delegate count.

The Vermont senator tried to ride his enduring support among liberal activists into a Saturday sweep that could help him narrow the gap with Clinton. The former secretary of state leads Sanders by about 300 in the number of delegates won in primaries and caucuses before Saturday's contests in three Western states.

Sanders looked strong in Washington state in early caucus results. Clinton and Sanders also competed in the Hawaii caucuses.

While Sanders faces a steep climb to the nomination, a string of losses for Clinton would highlight persistent vulnerabilities within her own party. Sanders continues to attract large enthusiastic crowds to his rallies — including 15,000 on Friday night at a Seattle sports stadium. He has collected more than $140 million from 2 million donors.

Most of his dozen primary-season wins have been in states with largely white populations and in caucus contests, which tend to attract the most active liberal Democrats. He's heavily favored by younger voters, who were a key part of the coalition that boosted Obama to victory twice.

In Spokane, Washington, a huge line of caucus attendees snaked around a high school parking lot on Saturday morning.

"I think one of the biggest things is free tuition for students," said Savannah Dills, 24, a college student who supports Sanders. "And getting big money out of politics. He's not paid for by billionaires."

Retiree Dan McLay, 64, attended the caucus in a hard-hat, which he joked he needed because he was one of the relatively few Clinton supporters in the big crowd.

"Look at this thing in Brussels," McLay said, referring to the deadly bombings. "We need a real experienced leader."

For Sanders, turning passionate support into the party nomination has grown increasingly difficult.

Clinton had a delegate lead of 1,223 to 920 over Sanders going into Saturday's contests, according to an Associated Press analysis, an advantage that expanded to 1,692-949 once the superdelegates, or party officials who can back either candidate, were included.

Based on that count, Sanders still needs to win 58 percent of the remaining delegates from primaries and caucuses to have a majority of those delegates by June's end.

His bar is even higher when the party officials are considered. He needs to win more than 67 percent of the remaining delegates overall — from primaries, caucuses and the ranks of uncommitted superdelegates — to prevail. It will take 2,383 delegates to secure the party's nomination at the national convention in July in Philadelphia.

"I have gotten 2.6 million more votes than Bernie Sanders," Clinton told supporters crowded into a union hall in Everett, Washington, this week. "We are on the path to the nomination, and I want Washington to be part of how we get there."

On the Republican side, Donald Trump's latest rude comments about competitor Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's wife raised new alarms Friday among Republicans about the party front-runner's ability to win over women, especially in a potential fall presidential match-up with Clinton. Trump came under fire for jabs at Heidi Cruz, as the rivals engage in an increasingly bitter, personal battle for the party's nomination. Hostilities reached a new high Friday when Cruz accused Trump and "his henchmen" of stoking false rumors that he'd cheated on his wife.

On Tuesday, Sanders won caucuses in Utah and Idaho but lost Arizona — the largest delegate prize — to Clinton. Because Democrats allocate their delegates on a proportional basis, meaning that the popular vote loser can still pick up a share, those victories netted Sanders a gain of about 20 delegates. He's looking to contests that follow in Wisconsin on April 5 and Wyoming on April 9 as a way to build momentum.

Sanders spent several days campaigning in Washington state and dispatched his wife, Jane, to Alaska and Hawaii. Clinton campaigned in Washington state for one-day and did not send any high-profile supporters to either of the other two states.

Clinton has been looking past the primary contests and aiming at potential Republican challengers. In interviews, rallies and speeches this week, she largely focused on Tuesday's deadly attacks in Brussels, casting Republican front-runner Trump and Cruz as unqualified to deal with complicated international threats.

Her campaign sees the April 19 contest in New York as an important one, not just because of the rich delegate prize but because losing to Sanders in a state she represented in the Senate would be a psychological blow. She hopes to lock up an even larger share of delegates in five Northeastern contests a week later.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-03-27

[sgtsabai]

Sanders took Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. Large majority in Washington and Alaska and was looking the same in Hawaii although the final count wasn't in last I checked. Clinton takes home the arrogance award for thinking she has it all wrapped up.

[quandow]

From Rupert Murdoch:

“Watch Hillary’s candidacy sink and sink,” Murdoch tweeted Saturday morning. “Nobody buying and more big trouble coming on emails."

Sign of things to come?

[sirineou]

The mainstream media continues to include the super delegates in the Hilary column and telling us that Bernie has no chance neglecting to say that Hilary has not won these supper delegates, that they are Democratic establishment and that they are supporting the establishment candidates because they are the establishment. But if Sanders continues to win, a lot of them can easily change their alliance when they see the writing on the wall.

Or they can continue with business as usual and suffer the same faith as the Republicans.

Independent Voters 99%

Republican Voters 23%

Democrat Voters 32%

http://www.people-press.org/topics/political-party-affiliation/

[stevenl]

The mainstream media continues to include the super delegates in the Hilary column and telling us that Bernie has no chance neglecting to say that Hilary has not won these supper delegates, that they are Democratic establishment and that they are supporting the establishment candidates because they are the establishment. But if Sanders continues to win, a lot of them can easily change their alliance when they see the writing on the wall.

Or they can continue with business as usual and suffer the same faith as the Republicans.

Independent Voters 99%

Republican Voters 23%

Democrat Voters 32%

http://www.people-press.org/topics/political-party-affiliation/

Make that 39 in stead of 99.

[sirineou]

The mainstream media continues to include the super delegates in the Hilary column and telling us that Bernie has no chance neglecting to say that Hilary has not won these supper delegates, that they are Democratic establishment and that they are supporting the establishment candidates because they are the establishment. But if Sanders continues to win, a lot of them can easily change their alliance when they see the writing on the wall.

Or they can continue with business as usual and suffer the same faith as the Republicans.

Independent Voters 99%

Republican Voters 23%

Democrat Voters 32%

http://www.people-press.org/topics/political-party-affiliation/

Make that 39 in stead of 99.

not if 154% of the electorate shows up