CONCORD, N.H. – After losing in the Iowa caucuses by the narrowest of margins last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton on Tuesday in a historical victory in the New Hampshire presidential primary. Now in New York, he is expected to have breakfast on Wednesday with Al Sharpton and is set to appear on “The View” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”.
The meeting with Sharpton, civil rights leader and television host, is part of Sanders’ strategy to bolster his support among African American voters, a group of electorates that will be significant in the next primaries in Southern states where Clinton’s campaign has seen a broad lead in polls.
Sanders entered the Democratic race with almost nothing last year when he launched his bid against the best-known Democrats in the country – and the world –, but with his unexpected outcomes in Iowa and his victory in New Hampshire he seems to pose a real threat to the former secretary of state’s campaign.
On Tuesday he found a receptive audience for his message about a “political revolution”, which consists of restraining the corrupting influence of money in politics and curbing the power of Wall Street. Sanders has also vowed to offer free college tuition and universal health care as part of an effort to rebuild the American middle class.
Nevada will hold caucuses on Feb, 20 and seven days later the Democratic race will move to South Carolina. Then 11 states will hold contests on March 1, widely known as Super Tuesday.
Both Sanders and Clinton have made significant efforts to win among largely white electorates in Iowa and New Hampshire, but in the next two states they will have to prove how fierce they are when connecting with Latino and African American voters.
Jeff Weaver, Sander’s campaign manager, firmly believes that the senator’s efforts will pay off in coming weeks. Spanish-language radio ads are active in Nevada and there is a large number of paid door-knockers in South Carolina.
“For many voters, there was a question about whether Senator Sanders’s message and his campaign could go toe to toe with the Clinton organization, and I think in Iowa he proved that we could,” Weaver said. “A victory in New Hampshire further amplifies that reality to voters all across the country.”
As for Clinton, she will definitely try to protect her advantage. Campaign stops are scheduled in the next two states in the next week and she will remark the criminal-justice speech and the urgent need for strict gun control.
Source: Washington Post