Bill Press: Sanders: Still in it to win it

There’s no other way to slice it: Hillary Clinton had a big win in Nevada on Feb. 20. After getting shellacked in New Hampshire’s primary, and barely eking out a victory in the Iowa caucuses, she needed to bounce back in the Silver State. And she did.

Clinton beat Bernie Sanders by a healthy 52.6 percent to 47.3 percent. She won big among union voters. She trounced Sanders among African-Americans, 76 percent to 22 percent. She won 74 percent of men and women over the age of 65. She soars out of Nevada into an expected win in South Carolina on Saturday.

{mosads}But, in many ways, Sanders can still feel good about Nevada. He didn’t win — and a win is always better than coming in second — but he didn’t exactly lose, either. Think of where he started less than a year ago. Then think of all the advantages Clinton had over the Vermont senator, in terms of money, endorsements, organization. She had a big head start and a built-in voting bloc from her last run for office, eight years ago, especially in the vote-rich Las Vegas area. 

Given that reality, the fact that Sanders has done as well as he has is remarkable. He went from 40 points behind to only 5 points behind. He won 83 percent of young people under the age of 30. In entrance polls, he actually scored better than Clinton among Hispanic voters, 53 percent to 45 percent. Next, after closing the margin in South Carolina, he sails into Super Tuesday having proven that his message of economic populism has national appeal and resonates far beyond just white voters.

As Bernie himself might say, that’s huuuge!

There are challenges ahead for both Sanders and Clinton. The first is turnout. While Republican primary voters have been turning out in record numbers, that’s not true of Democrats. Only 171,000 Democrats turned out to caucus in Iowa, compared to 239,000 in 2008. Thirty-seven thousand fewer Democrats voted in this year’s New Hampshire primary during that same time frame. And the number of Nevada Democratic caucusgoers fell from 120,000 in 2008 to 80,000 last Saturday. 

For whatever reason, there’s not much excitement among Democrats in 2016’s political marathon. If that enthusiasm gap holds true, it could prove a problem for either Clinton or Sanders in the general election. But it’s a particular problem in the primaries for Sanders, whose call for a “political revolution” has yet to be realized.

Both candidates need to do some fine-tuning. Sanders has to make a stronger case that, in fact, he is not a “single-issue candidate,” and that his entire panoply of issues — cracking down on Wall Street, universal healthcare, free public college education, a $15 minimum wage, criminal justice reform and campaign finance reform — impacts Americans of every age, race, and gender. Clinton, on the other hand, needs to temper her off-putting emphasis on “pragmatism,” broaden her appeal to young voters, and somehow deal with the trust and honesty issue that still dogs the former secretary of State.

The big takeaway out of Nevada is that this Democratic primary is going to be a hard-fought duel between two strong and well-funded candidates that lasts for months. Fasten your seat belts!  

Press is host of “The Bill Press Show” on Free Speech TV and author of “Buyer’s Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down.”