Tag: california primary
Sanders Defiant: ‘Our Vision Will Be The Future Of America’

Sanders Defiant: ‘Our Vision Will Be The Future Of America’

When Bernie Sanders took the stage at approaching 11 o’clock last night, to a crowd of roaring thousands in Santa Monica, California, he was defiant.

“I want to thank the people of California for their incredible hospitality,” Sanders began. “It has been one of the most moving moments of my life to be out in this state in beautiful evenings and seeing thousands and thousands of people coming out, people who are prepared to stand up and fight for real change in this country.”

When the Vermont senator announced that he would be campaigning in Washington, D.C. ahead of its primary next week, “to fight for every vote and every delegate we can get,” the crowd erupted. Sanders stood back and smiled.

Still, he acknowledged his substantial loss to Hillary Clinton in California, and said he had called the presumptive nominee to congratulate her on her victories in California, New Jersey, and South Dakota.

A delicate dance will take place over the next two days, as Bernie Sanders comes under more pressure from the highest levels of the party.

Sanders will spend Wednesday in his home state of Vermont. He plans to hold a rally in Washington, D.C. Thursday. “With the DC primary coming up on June 14, we need everyone to join the political revolution,” read an email sent out by his campaign late Tuesday.

President Obama will meet with Sanders on Thursday. Sanders, according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest, asked for the meeting. “The President thanked Senator Sanders for energizing millions of Americans with his commitment to issues like fighting economic inequality and special interests’ influence on our politics,” Earnest said.

The two will discuss “how to build on the extraordinary work he has done to engage millions of Democratic voters, and to build on that enthusiasm in the weeks and months ahead.”

Obama also spoke to Clinton, and congratulated her on “securing the delegates necessary to clinch the Democratic Nomination for President.” The president, according to multiple reports, is eager to enter the fray, and it appears he wants to do it sooner rather than later.

Clinton last night did not urge Sanders to step aside, and will not do so today. She was effusive in her praise for the candidate.

Sanders wants to force his agenda, one that has energized more than 10 million voters and a vast army of small donors, front and center at the Democratic National Convention.

He is reported to be poised to lay off a large chunk of his campaign staff. The speech was gracefully elusive in this regard: pledges to continue until the convention were couched in broader rhetoric about sustaining policy goals and playing a part in the future of American politics.

Now, it’s up to Sanders, and his supporters, many of them distrustful of and hostile to Hillary Clinton, to ensure that their “revolution” will not end with his candidacy, lest the relatively radical platform espoused by a most unlikely candidate be buried under the weight of an anti-Trump campaign.

Photo: Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign rally in Santa Cruz, California May 31, 2016.  REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Sanders Could Help Democrats And Progressives In Down-Ballot California Races

Sanders Could Help Democrats And Progressives In Down-Ballot California Races

Bernie Sanders’ decision to stay in the Democratic primary race — and the competitive nature of that race in the state of California — could very well pay dividends for the Democratic Party in the less glamorous, but impactful down-ballot races.

California has a public primary system in which all candidates are on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation — the two top vote-getters face off in a general election.

Granted, Republicans aren’t a consistent threat to Democrats in The Golden State. California is a well-known strong blue state and Democratic presidential nominees have won the state in each of the last six election cycles. California’s 2014 election for governor was described by the Cook Political Report as “Solid Democratic,” meaning there was little chance that Jerry Brown would face much competition from his Republican counterpart, Neel Kashkari. Brown ultimately scored 4.3 million votes en route to a 60 to 40 percent victory over Kashkari, who earned just 2.9 million votes.

Yet even amid a heavily Democratic state, Republicans may have a chance to make some noise in down-ballot races. There are nine candidates vying for Rep. Lois Capps’ seat in the 24th District as she prepares to retire, and they are all broken down evenly: three Democrats, three Republicans, and three Independents.

But with low voter turnout expected in a Republican presidential primary race that has already been settled and a tight Democratic Presidential primary race in the state, Sanders’ and Clinton’s left-leaning independent and Democratic supporters could help propel the more progressive candidates to victory.

Meanwhile, a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll suggests Sanders is a key ensuring a one-party general election showdown. Loretta Sanchez, who is polling in second place behind front-runner Kamala Harris in the Senate race, is relying heavily on Latinos, young voters, and Sanders’ supporters to maintain her second-place status in Tuesday’s primary race.

Polls indicate that among likely voters for Sanders, Harris only has a three-point advantage over Sanchez. And although Republicans lag behind, they are not behind enough to seal the deal for the two leading Democrats: Ben Winston, a researcher for the LA Times poll, said “[Sanchez’s] support is still somewhat weak and is likely dependent on turnout.”

Had Sanders dropped out prior to the California primary, down-ballot races likely would not look as favorable for Democrats. Races might not have been as competitive had Sanders not closed the gap in the state as quickly as he did, and that would have decreased the incentive for voters of both Democratic presidential candidates to do their part in turning out to vote.

Sanders has also influenced the race for Sam Farr’s congressional seat. Three out of five of the contenders in that race are neither Republicans nor Democrats, signaling a boost of confidence among those who believe they can compete amid a system that has historically proven to be limited to two parties.

One candidate, Joe Williams, a union stewart in the Peace and Freedom Party, said that he aligns with Sanders’ platform and that the Vermont Senator has given him “staying power” in the race.

Most of the down-ballot races hinge on whether Democratic voter turnout in the state ends up being as high as expected. The Associated Press controversially called the presidential primary for Hillary Clinton on Monday night based on unofficial responses from superdelegates in a survey, raising the question of whether or not voters will feel it is even necessary to show up at the polls.

Polls opened in California at 7 a.m. PT and will close at 8 p.m.

Photo: California Attorney General Kamala Harris speaks at the Center for American Progress’ 2014 Making Progress Policy Conference in Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. November 19, 2014.  REUTERS/Gary Cameron

New Jersey Looks Like Clinton Country

New Jersey Looks Like Clinton Country

The final Super Tuesday of the 2016 primary election season offers a cross-country glimpse of the Democratic electorate, but polls are indicating the comparison is anything but symmetrical.

Bernie Sanders has quickly closed the gap in California, and the Vermont Senator is now in a virtual tie with Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the Golden State. But in New Jersey, where voters are slightly less liberal, polls show Clinton has the edge by an even larger margin than in New York, where she won by 16 percentage points.

Clinton campaigned in Newark, New Jersey on Tuesday but cancelled further events in the state as her lead evaporated in California. Polls are showing that the former Secretary of State is comfortably leading in the New Jersey, 61 to 34 percent.

However, voting rules in New Jersey may be on Sanders’ side. Although it is officially a “closed” primary, Independents are not recognized as affiliated voters in the state and unaffiliated voters are allowed to declare themselves as Democrats or Republicans on primary day. Open primaries have often worked in Sanders’ favor, such as in Michigan, where he scored a historic upset victory after preliminary polls consistently showed Clinton ahead by double digits.

Unaffiliated voters in New Jersey outnumber Democratic voters by nearly a million — 2.6 to 1.8 million — but this number could change heading into the general election, depending on how many people register as Democrats on Tuesday. Democrats currently outnumber Republicans by 700,000 voters in the state.

Both New Jersey and California are widely expected to go blue during the general election. Some polls have shown only a slight lead for Clinton over Trump in New Jersey, but this could be because the Democratic primary is unsettled and third-party choices have picked up some steam in recent weeks.

Nonetheless, history has shown that nominees enjoy stronger results in the polls once primary and third-party competitors are narrowed down. According to a CBS poll, Sanders holds a 52 percent to 34 percent edge over Trump in a general election matchup among voters in New Jersey. Clinton holds a 49 percent to 34 percent lead over Trump in the same poll.

The Associated Press crowned Clinton as the presumptive nominee on Monday night, sparking outrage among critics who noted that superdelegates do not vote until the Democratic National Convention and who pointed out that the premature announcement could compromise voter turnout in California — though others say the appearance of a premature announcement from AP could spur protest votes for Sanders.

Clinton currently leads Sanders by 291 delegates after securing victories in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico primaries over the weekend. There are 126 delegates to be allocated in New Jersey and 475 in California.

Montana, New Mexico, and South Dakota will also hold Democratic primaries on Tuesday; North Dakota will participate in a Democratic caucus. Washington D.C. will vote next week, in the last primary of the year.

Photo: U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton makes a speech during a campaign stop in Lynwood, California, United States June 6, 2016.   REUTERS/Mike Blake 

What To Expect From California

What To Expect From California

On Tuesday, Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will square off in eight states for the last big primary day of the election cycle.

In California, the state that recently set the stage for highly-publicized violence from the anti-Trump protestors, the latest polls show the Vermont senator and the former Secretary of State nearly neck-and-neck. A CBS News poll released Sunday found Clinton ahead of Sanders by just two points, at 49 to 47 percent, respectively, and the final pre-election Field poll found 45 percent supporting Clinton and 43 percent backing Sanders.

Although Clinton has a significant delegate lead over Sanders, which she is likely to maintain unless the Vermont senator is able to convince hundreds of superdelegates who have declared their preference for Clinton to back him instead, Sanders has resolved to keep fighting, arguing that a big California victory could turn tides in his favor. Clinton is well aware of how bad a California loss would look for her campaign, as she still needs Democrats to believe she’s the right person to take on Donald Trump in November.

Immigration is a critical factor in California. The Hill reports 43 percent of voters say it is “very important,” and 39 percent say “somewhat important.” The Golden State’s large Latino population, which surpassed that of the state’s non-Hispanic whites in 2014, will be a decisive demographic in the state. Keeping with a national trend, young Latinos prefer Sanders to Clinton, who has been running a 30-second ad in Spanish in the state.

“I am a diehard Clinton supporter. I have wanted her to win since 2008,” said Kathryn Ramírez, a teacher and school board member, in and interview with The Hill. Ramírez, whose entire family supports Clinton, said the former Secretary of State is “very qualified and she really cares about moving us forward.”

Recent high school graduate Tomás Mier will vote for the first time on Tuesday. Mier, the son of Mexican immigrants, told The Hill he is “definitely a Sanders supporter.”

“I like his position on immigration. He has a plan for immigration reform,” said Mier. “And he’s talking about raising the minimum wage. I feel like he’s rooting for us (young people). I don’t have any experience voting before, but I feel that this election has been like no other election before. We are very enthusiastic about voting.”

Despite his preference for Sanders, Miers is not among the “Bernie or Bust” faction of the Vermont senators’ support. If Clinton gets the nomination, Miers says he will back her.

“This is about making sure that Donald Trump doesn’t become president,” he said. “We can’t have someone like him. I fear that my family will be separated if he becomes president.”

Professor of Mexican American Studies at San Jose State University Phil Tabera is still undecided.

“I’m leaning toward Sanders because I sympathize with what he’s trying to do,” Tabera said, “but I’m not sure it would work, especially if there is a Republican House and Senate. I do understand things have to change, but Hillary Clinton knows the system. I’m real torn between the two.”

Clinton, who this weekend won the Virgin Islands caucuses and the Puerto Rico primary, is reportedly less than 30 delegates shy of a majority and is expected to win most of New Jersey’s 142 delegates on Tuesday.

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Clinton said she is very proud of her California campaign, and that she believes by Tuesday she “will have decisively won the popular vote” and “will have decisively won the pledged delegate majority.”

Based on the delegate math, campaign war chest, and her popular vote advantage, Clinton’s allies assert the race for the Democratic nomination is over. But Sanders insists he will fight until July’s Democratic convention in Philadelphia.

“It is extremely unlikely that Secretary Clinton will have the requisite number of pledged delegates to claim victory on Tuesday night,” Sanders said at a conference Saturday in L.A.’s Little Tokyo, where he voiced disdain for the media’s counting of superdelegates in their tallies.

“At the end of the nominating process, no candidate will have enough pledged delegates to call the campaign a victory. That will be dependent upon superdelegates. In other words, the Democratic National Convention will be a contested convention.”

The Field poll found much greater enthusiasm for Sanders than for Clinton in California. Nearly two in three voters backing Sanders, 65 percent, say they are enthusiastic in their support of his candidacy; less than half of Clinton supporters feel the same way. And while both Democrats are viewed favorably by the probable Democratic primary electorate, 76 percent have a favorable opinion of Sanders, compared to 64 percent for Clinton.

Field reports this as a “relatively new development and is due to a decline in the proportion of likely Democratic primary voters who have a favorable opinion of Clinton over the past four months.”

Advisors told CNN that while Sanders fully intends to fight until the Democratic convention, he has also not forgotten his duty to help keep Donald Trump out of the White House. At this point though, they said, the Vermont senator hasn’t thought past the convention.

The Clinton and Trump campaigns are already aiming for each other’s Achilles heels, with Trump dredging up scandals from the 1990s and Clinton targeting Trump’s racism, instability, and business failures. The numbers reported by The Hill show in California, 33 percent of voters say being reminded of the 1990s and the Clinton White House makes them feel more negative than positive about Hillary Clinton’s campaign, while 52 percent reported that hearing about Trump’s past business dealing gives them a negative impression of the presumptive GOP nominee.

Clinton leads Trump by a wide margin among California voters in a hypothetical November election, 48 to 33 percent. The prospect of casting ballots against their candidate’s opponent is fueling many voters’ drive to the polls, with 42 percent of Sanders’ supporters looking forward to voting against Clinton and 41 percent of those backing Clinton excited to vote against Sanders.

Photo: U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes a picture with supporters during a campaign stop in Fresno, California, United States June 4, 2016.   REUTERS/Mike Blake