Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Hillary Slows Down Bernie's Insurgent Campaign with Her Victory in
Nevada
________________________________________
Hillary Slows Down Bernie's Insurgent Campaign with Her Victory in Nevada
By Steven Rosenfeld [1] / AlterNet [2]
February 20, 2016
Bernie Sanders' path to the Democratic Party's presidential nomination got
harder on Saturday, as Hillary Clinton won 53 percent of the delegates from
caucuses held across Nevada-compared to 47 percent for Sanders-who could not
turn a buoyant come-from-behind surge into an upset victory.
"I am very proud of the campaign we ran. Five weeks ago we were 25 points
behind and we ended up in a very close election," Sanders tweeted [3] at 3
PM. "Proud that we brought many working and young people into the political
process. We have the wind at our back as we head into Super Tuesday."
Sanders' spokespeople pointed to the bright aspects of their results.
Entrance polls by the media found [4] that Sanders won the Latino vote by 8
percent. In 2016's first three contests, they have done far better than
expected: tying in Iowa, winning in New Hampshire, and coming close here.
They noted that President Obama lost Nevada's caucuses in 2008 and won the
presidency.
But Sanders was hoping for much more. At Friday night's Nevada rally, he
implored several thousand supporters to "make American history" tomorrow by
winning the caucuses so "that people will look back at what happens in
Nevada and say this is the beginning of a political revolution."
Instead, it was Clinton that got the lift that she needed after badly losing
the New Hampshire primary by 22 points, and she could point to a stronger
than expected boost from working-class voters in Las Vegas, where most
unions endorsed her and three-fourths of the state's Democrats reside. In
all six special precincts for casino and hotel workers who got paid time off
to participate, Clinton repeatedly won two-thirds of the vote, with many
Latino and African-American hospitality workers saying she was best
qualified.
"To everyone who turned out in every corner of Nevada with determination and
heart: This is your win. Thank you. -H," tweeted [5] Clinton, who followed
with an e-mail blast acknowledging the tight race. "The choice in this
primary might be tough for some, because the truth is, Senator Sanders and I
agree on a basic premise: Wall Street, big banks, drug companies, and the
like all have too much power and influence in our country... Americans are
right to be angry. These injustices demand action from all of us."
Just what the specifics of that agenda consist of, and who is the best-able
to deliver it, were the deciding factors raised by caucus-goers Saturday at
a site set up by MGM Resorts International at its New York New York casino
on the Las Vegas strip. A conference room drew 299 employees from every
corner of the surrounding casino complex. There were uniformed maids,
bartenders, card dealers, bellhops, front desk workers, housekeepers, cooks,
repairmen and managers.
Nevada's Working-Class Voters
The first person in line was a Sanders' supporter. Michael Rubenstein is 25,
a Las Vegas native, a community college student and a chef at the nearby
non-union Mandarin Oriental restaurant, where he does not have health care
benefits. "It's an easy decision. I believe in the cause," he said, as he
waited to be checked in by state party volunteers. "I came early to make
sure my vote counted. Bernie seems to make a lot of sense, the college
tuition thing, health care."
But it didn't take long for the generational divide to appear. Sanders, the
entrance polls found [4], was supported by 76 percent of caucus goers under
age 45. He also was supported by 54 percent of Latinos statewide, compared
to 43 percent for Clinton. But among employees lining up at New York New
York were many middle-aged and older men and women who have been working
here for decades, even as their ID badges list faraway hometowns.
Calvin Brooks, a Louisiana native, has been a bellman for 19 years in this
hotel. Speaking slowly and deliberately, he explained why Clinton was his
choice. "This is a union state. This is a union city. The president that we
need today is somebody that will stand with us, to keep us together as a
whole," he said. "My mind is made up for Hillary, someone who has been in
the White House, not around it. and someone who knows the lay of the land
and how to do the right things for all people, not just some people."
Looking at those in line with him, Brooks said lots of people who supported
her in 2008 are with her now. That could be a factor that was underestimated
by pollsters and others who were surprised to see Sanders' surge in recent
weeks. Compared to 2008's caucuses, where it was a fierce fight between
Clinton and Obama and 117,000 Democrats turned out statewide, statewide
turnout Saturday in Nevada was estimated by party officials to be 80,000.
Sanders won in the northern part of the state, where Reno is located and
where there were precincts in university campuses. There weren't precincts
on Las Vegas campuses this year, but there was a determination by workers in
the hotels to have their votes count.
Not far behind Brooks in line was another Clinton supporter, a middle-aged
white man with a crew cut and goatee, who said he's been a slot machine
technician for 19 years. "I'm caucusing for Hillary. It's close. If you
care, you need to make a statement," he said, only giving his first name.
When asked why not Sanders, he said, "People are fed up and want something
different and that's why candidates who you don't expect to do well are
doing well." He added that she's more competent.
Erlinda Falconer, an African-American women and blackjack dealer here for 18
years, looked at people in line. "It appears it's mostly Hillary. She's more
qualified and we all know it," she said, adding that people are really
paying attention. "The majority of us realize how serious this election is
and the impact it will have on our country and state," she said. "This is
very, very important. There's a lot on the line This isn't a popularity
contest. This is trying to get back on track."
"I feel like the odd one out in a sea of Hillary supporters," confessed
Aimee Johnson, 37, a wardrobe staffer for the glitzy shows, who came for
Sanders. "I am a little surprised, since we are all working stiffs all here
on our lunch breaks. especially with his focus on education reform, women's
rights, and more. It's really surprising."
Johnson, like many Sanders supporters, said she didn't trust the
Clintons-both of them. "Do we really need a third Bill Clinton
administration?" she asked, and was quick to say that Sanders has a
diversity of supporters. "It's not just the really young people who are
going for Bernie. It's people who have been dealing with health care,
education, student loans."
The caucus rules permit any eligible or registered voter in line by noon to
participate, even if it took a while to get through the check-in process. As
the end of the line neared-where 299 people came to a room with only 100
seats evenly divided between two sides-one of three precinct captains for
Sanders, Bridget Savadge, greeted Sanders supporters.
A wardrobe tech for the Circ de Soleil acrobatic theatre show, she wore a
purple t-shirt, red precinct captain pin and blue stickers and was handing
out campaign buttons. The Clinton chairs were handing out blue tee-shirts,
prompting one Sanders supporter to say he'd rather have free health care.
When asked who Savadge saw among her team, she replied, "I see middle-class
working people that want somebody that stands up for them and not for a
select few. I see many people who are tired of the establishment, that are
struggling with the current system in getting what they need." She
continued, "He offers answers to questions about how am I going to pay for
my health care, what's going to happen to my Social Security, how will I put
my kids through school? He has answers and plans for that."
But even before the doors shut and the counting of attendees commenced, it
was clear there were more people packed into Clinton's side of the room. It
took another hour before all the votes were counted, recounted, and a final
pitch by the campaigns was made to a half-dozen undecided voters.
One of the last-to-decide voters was Joyce, a 72-year-old African-American
housekeeper from the Mandalay Bay hotel, who said she recognized many Latina
housekeepers standing across the room for Hillary. "I want to retire soon
and I worry about health care and Social Security," she said, adding that
she thought Sanders was offering more than Clinton.
Justin Stokes, another Sanders precinct captain and a bartender at Planet
Hollywood, gave his team's speech to the undecideds. "This is the first
candidate who is not the lesser of two evils," he said, saying that Sanders
has fought for civil rights, immigrant rights, Wall Street reform, campaign
finance reform and more. "Go to the left and stand for the revolution, don't
sit for a coronation."
But when the voting was done, there were 97 votes for Sanders and 196 for
Clinton-a two-to-one margin. The state party does not release raw vote
totals, just the percentages of delegates that are awarded to each of the
candidates as they go to the next stage in the nominating process: county
conventions. Clinton won 23 delegates at MGM Resorts' caucus, compared to 11
for Sanders.
Results like that show how working-class voters in Las Vegas tipped the
balance to Clinton. She won 53 percent of the delegates awarded statewide,
compared to 47 percent for Sanders. While his campaign sent its surrogates
to talk to workers in strip caucus site before Saturday's caucus, both Bill
and Hillary Clinton were making the rounds in the strip's hotels as well,
said Clinton caucus captain Jillian Matunda.
"Bill was downstairs in the employee lounge," she said. "Bernie's team sent
[Chicago mayoral candidate] Chuy Garcia."
Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet, including
America's retirement crisis, democracy and voting rights, and campaigns and
elections. He is the author of "Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting"
(AlterNet Books, 2008).
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Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [6]
[7]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/hillary-slows-down-bernies-insurgent-c
ampaign-her-victory-nevada
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/steven-rosenfeld
[2] http://alternet.org
[3] https://twitter.com/BernieSanders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[4]
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-nevada-democratic-caucus-entrance-poll-a
nalysis/story?id=37077053
[5] https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Hillary Slows Down
Bernie's Insurgent Campaign with Her Victory in Nevada
[7] http://www.alternet.org/
[8] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Hillary Slows Down Bernie's Insurgent Campaign with Her Victory in
Nevada
Hillary Slows Down Bernie's Insurgent Campaign with Her Victory in Nevada
By Steven Rosenfeld [1] / AlterNet [2]
February 20, 2016
Bernie Sanders' path to the Democratic Party's presidential nomination got
harder on Saturday, as Hillary Clinton won 53 percent of the delegates from
caucuses held across Nevada-compared to 47 percent for Sanders-who could not
turn a buoyant come-from-behind surge into an upset victory.
"I am very proud of the campaign we ran. Five weeks ago we were 25 points
behind and we ended up in a very close election," Sanders tweeted [3] at 3
PM. "Proud that we brought many working and young people into the political
process. We have the wind at our back as we head into Super Tuesday."
Sanders' spokespeople pointed to the bright aspects of their results.
Entrance polls by the media found [4] that Sanders won the Latino vote by 8
percent. In 2016's first three contests, they have done far better than
expected: tying in Iowa, winning in New Hampshire, and coming close here.
They noted that President Obama lost Nevada's caucuses in 2008 and won the
presidency.
But Sanders was hoping for much more. At Friday night's Nevada rally, he
implored several thousand supporters to "make American history" tomorrow by
winning the caucuses so "that people will look back at what happens in
Nevada and say this is the beginning of a political revolution."
Instead, it was Clinton that got the lift that she needed after badly losing
the New Hampshire primary by 22 points, and she could point to a stronger
than expected boost from working-class voters in Las Vegas, where most
unions endorsed her and three-fourths of the state's Democrats reside. In
all six special precincts for casino and hotel workers who got paid time off
to participate, Clinton repeatedly won two-thirds of the vote, with many
Latino and African-American hospitality workers saying she was best
qualified.
"To everyone who turned out in every corner of Nevada with determination and
heart: This is your win. Thank you. -H," tweeted [5] Clinton, who followed
with an e-mail blast acknowledging the tight race. "The choice in this
primary might be tough for some, because the truth is, Senator Sanders and I
agree on a basic premise: Wall Street, big banks, drug companies, and the
like all have too much power and influence in our country... Americans are
right to be angry. These injustices demand action from all of us."
Just what the specifics of that agenda consist of, and who is the best-able
to deliver it, were the deciding factors raised by caucus-goers Saturday at
a site set up by MGM Resorts International at its New York New York casino
on the Las Vegas strip. A conference room drew 299 employees from every
corner of the surrounding casino complex. There were uniformed maids,
bartenders, card dealers, bellhops, front desk workers, housekeepers, cooks,
repairmen and managers.
Nevada's Working-Class Voters
The first person in line was a Sanders' supporter. Michael Rubenstein is 25,
a Las Vegas native, a community college student and a chef at the nearby
non-union Mandarin Oriental restaurant, where he does not have health care
benefits. "It's an easy decision. I believe in the cause," he said, as he
waited to be checked in by state party volunteers. "I came early to make
sure my vote counted. Bernie seems to make a lot of sense, the college
tuition thing, health care."
But it didn't take long for the generational divide to appear. Sanders, the
entrance polls found [4], was supported by 76 percent of caucus goers under
age 45. He also was supported by 54 percent of Latinos statewide, compared
to 43 percent for Clinton. But among employees lining up at New York New
York were many middle-aged and older men and women who have been working
here for decades, even as their ID badges list faraway hometowns.
Calvin Brooks, a Louisiana native, has been a bellman for 19 years in this
hotel. Speaking slowly and deliberately, he explained why Clinton was his
choice. "This is a union state. This is a union city. The president that we
need today is somebody that will stand with us, to keep us together as a
whole," he said. "My mind is made up for Hillary, someone who has been in
the White House, not around it. and someone who knows the lay of the land
and how to do the right things for all people, not just some people."
Looking at those in line with him, Brooks said lots of people who supported
her in 2008 are with her now. That could be a factor that was underestimated
by pollsters and others who were surprised to see Sanders' surge in recent
weeks. Compared to 2008's caucuses, where it was a fierce fight between
Clinton and Obama and 117,000 Democrats turned out statewide, statewide
turnout Saturday in Nevada was estimated by party officials to be 80,000.
Sanders won in the northern part of the state, where Reno is located and
where there were precincts in university campuses. There weren't precincts
on Las Vegas campuses this year, but there was a determination by workers in
the hotels to have their votes count.
Not far behind Brooks in line was another Clinton supporter, a middle-aged
white man with a crew cut and goatee, who said he's been a slot machine
technician for 19 years. "I'm caucusing for Hillary. It's close. If you
care, you need to make a statement," he said, only giving his first name.
When asked why not Sanders, he said, "People are fed up and want something
different and that's why candidates who you don't expect to do well are
doing well." He added that she's more competent.
Erlinda Falconer, an African-American women and blackjack dealer here for 18
years, looked at people in line. "It appears it's mostly Hillary. She's more
qualified and we all know it," she said, adding that people are really
paying attention. "The majority of us realize how serious this election is
and the impact it will have on our country and state," she said. "This is
very, very important. There's a lot on the line This isn't a popularity
contest. This is trying to get back on track."
"I feel like the odd one out in a sea of Hillary supporters," confessed
Aimee Johnson, 37, a wardrobe staffer for the glitzy shows, who came for
Sanders. "I am a little surprised, since we are all working stiffs all here
on our lunch breaks. especially with his focus on education reform, women's
rights, and more. It's really surprising."
Johnson, like many Sanders supporters, said she didn't trust the
Clintons-both of them. "Do we really need a third Bill Clinton
administration?" she asked, and was quick to say that Sanders has a
diversity of supporters. "It's not just the really young people who are
going for Bernie. It's people who have been dealing with health care,
education, student loans."
The caucus rules permit any eligible or registered voter in line by noon to
participate, even if it took a while to get through the check-in process. As
the end of the line neared-where 299 people came to a room with only 100
seats evenly divided between two sides-one of three precinct captains for
Sanders, Bridget Savadge, greeted Sanders supporters.
A wardrobe tech for the Circ de Soleil acrobatic theatre show, she wore a
purple t-shirt, red precinct captain pin and blue stickers and was handing
out campaign buttons. The Clinton chairs were handing out blue tee-shirts,
prompting one Sanders supporter to say he'd rather have free health care.
When asked who Savadge saw among her team, she replied, "I see middle-class
working people that want somebody that stands up for them and not for a
select few. I see many people who are tired of the establishment, that are
struggling with the current system in getting what they need." She
continued, "He offers answers to questions about how am I going to pay for
my health care, what's going to happen to my Social Security, how will I put
my kids through school? He has answers and plans for that."
But even before the doors shut and the counting of attendees commenced, it
was clear there were more people packed into Clinton's side of the room. It
took another hour before all the votes were counted, recounted, and a final
pitch by the campaigns was made to a half-dozen undecided voters.
One of the last-to-decide voters was Joyce, a 72-year-old African-American
housekeeper from the Mandalay Bay hotel, who said she recognized many Latina
housekeepers standing across the room for Hillary. "I want to retire soon
and I worry about health care and Social Security," she said, adding that
she thought Sanders was offering more than Clinton.
Justin Stokes, another Sanders precinct captain and a bartender at Planet
Hollywood, gave his team's speech to the undecideds. "This is the first
candidate who is not the lesser of two evils," he said, saying that Sanders
has fought for civil rights, immigrant rights, Wall Street reform, campaign
finance reform and more. "Go to the left and stand for the revolution, don't
sit for a coronation."
But when the voting was done, there were 97 votes for Sanders and 196 for
Clinton-a two-to-one margin. The state party does not release raw vote
totals, just the percentages of delegates that are awarded to each of the
candidates as they go to the next stage in the nominating process: county
conventions. Clinton won 23 delegates at MGM Resorts' caucus, compared to 11
for Sanders.
Results like that show how working-class voters in Las Vegas tipped the
balance to Clinton. She won 53 percent of the delegates awarded statewide,
compared to 47 percent for Sanders. While his campaign sent its surrogates
to talk to workers in strip caucus site before Saturday's caucus, both Bill
and Hillary Clinton were making the rounds in the strip's hotels as well,
said Clinton caucus captain Jillian Matunda.
"Bill was downstairs in the employee lounge," she said. "Bernie's team sent
[Chicago mayoral candidate] Chuy Garcia."
Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet, including
America's retirement crisis, democracy and voting rights, and campaigns and
elections. He is the author of "Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting"
(AlterNet Books, 2008).
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [6]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[7]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/hillary-slows-down-bernies-insurgent-c
ampaign-her-victory-nevada
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/steven-rosenfeld
[2] http://alternet.org
[3] https://twitter.com/BernieSanders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[4]
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-nevada-democratic-caucus-entrance-poll-a
nalysis/story?id=37077053
[5] https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Hillary Slows Down
Bernie's Insurgent Campaign with Her Victory in Nevada
[7] http://www.alternet.org/
[8] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
