Discussion for article #246288
Well, that’s exactly the problem for the Democratic Party writ large. When Dem voters come out, we win. When they don’t - as in most midterms - we lose.
So, if Bernie can’t get them to show up to support him in an important primary election, what makes him think they’ll show up in the general?
One thing we do know about Hillary’s supporters. They will show up in November.
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This is why it is difficult for any candidate to depend on “new” voters. New voters, and younger voters, have a tendency to not show up at the polls. They get all caught up in the campaign, but neglect to block off time on polling day to actually show up.
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Was it really a low turnout for the Democrats in Nevada?
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Contemporaneous reporting all says the turnout was high.
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Low:
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Even if it’s true, excuses won’t get Bernie much more than a pat on the back and maybe a cup of coffee.
I’m sure the very same could be said for Hillary, more voters would of meant more votes for Hillary as well and since we are speculating, most likely in bigger percentages also too.
Bernie kind of has the Rubio thing going on. Coming in second and not winning somehow transcends into meaning that he’s winning. I have no idea what the real winners are called in this scenario?
Rubio just soaked up all of the Bush campaign donations and the support, Sanders isn’t going to get anything from anyone and his entire push has to come from him. He fails a bit at that and it isn’t going to get any easier.
The non-specific Bern had best step it up and spit it out or a close second will be the highlight from here on out.
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The CNN website is reporting that according to a Nevada Democratic Party spokesperson, the turnout was 80,000 as compared to 120,000 in 2008. I can’t link because I’m on my iPhone.
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I had thought that was part of Bernie’s message, that he was mobilizing new people. If he is not doing so enough to win the primary, then he would have an issue in the general.
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About 80,000 people showed up for the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, a significant drop-off, compared with 2008, the last time there was a competitive Democratic race, according to officials at the Nevada Democratic Party.
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True indeed. I’m a Hillary supporter but appreciate Bernie’s efforts to bring more new voters in and he did. But, we still need to push for more turnout in the general.
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@Lio
@elmagnosr
@AntiSachetDeThe
Thank all of you for the links and info. The numbers are 80K compared to 2008’s 120K, which does seem low. Watching Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, it looks like they added some new software and ways to register, etc. I wonder if that had any effect? She seemed to say that the state Democratic Party believes those are good numbers.
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Leftflank, with all due respect, I don’t think Sanders is making excuses. It was a narrow victory for Clinton, as was Iowa, and that spells trouble…
For Clinton. She needs to have some decisive victories going forward.
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The fact that Pres. Obama is not on the ballot and Black Nevadans voted 3:1 in favor for HRC be the reason for low voter turnout…The truth is Sanders needs to improve his standing among Black and Latino voters. The “revolution” has not caught fire with many democratic voters.
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This is a small mistake, but still a mistake. The kind of mistakes that seem inevitable from someone running a national campaign for the first time. At this point, he has to say “we didn’t work hard enough to get our message across” rather then “it’s the (our?) voters fault for not showing up”.
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this is what happens when your entire voter base is under 30. Something better comes along, they don’t vote -too much trouble. Easier to complain.
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True as well but Bernie’s failure to bring out more actual voters in this primary looms large as a bad sign for Hillary and the Democratic party in general. I do hope the March primarys seal the deal for Hillary if only to allow more time unify behind one candidate and then to get out the vote in November.
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I wish TPM would put out one article about a story, like this Sanders interview, rather than put out several 3 paragraph articles.
“Narrow victory”? If Sanders had won by 5.5 points, some on here would be calling it the greatest victory since the North destroyed the South in the Battle of Southern Aggression.
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It should be a wake up call to Democrats that the party has to do better to appeal to folks who don’t understand the stakes in this election. I wonder then if Bernie has energized our base, then why the problem with turnout.
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