The Presidential Race: The West Weighs in

[eridani]

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/23/presidential-race-west-weighs

Bernie Sanders is ignored by the media, dismissed by the pundits and the president, but he keeps on rising. Donald Trump continues to outrage, generating well-deserved condemnation in the media, opposition of panicked Republican poobahs and a barrage of negative ads from deep pocket superPACs, but he keeps extending his lead. This campaign is a long way from over.

On a day haunted by the terror in Brussels, voters flooded to the polls and caucuses in Arizona, Idaho and Utah. Hillary Clinton won Arizona handily, buoyed again by her continued edge among seniors and people of color. But Sanders gained in the delegate count by swamping her in the Idaho and Utah caucuses, generating recorded turnouts that overwhelmed caucus sites. The press will discount his victories as expected and his delegate gains as insufficient, but what’s clear is that Sanders continues to generate growing excitement and support on the trail. The press says his only hope is to win by large margins in the remaining states. Well, in Idaho and Utah, he did just that.

The Sanders campaign raised more money than Clinton in February. Again the great bulk of his came from small donors – he has now more than 2 million of them. Clinton’s fundraising continued to depend primarily on big donors who are maxing out. Sanders’ passionate supporters are clearly ready to fuel his challenge trough the convention.

Sanders continues to draw the biggest crowds of the election, Donald Trump’s claims not withstanding. And Sanders continues to rise in the polls. The most recent CNN/ORC poll in mid-March showed Sanders closing to 51-44 percent among registered Democrats and Democratic leaning independents, substantially better than that poll’s late February measure (55-38 percent Clinton). Americans continue to express rising doubts about Clinton. In the most recent New York Times/CBS News poll, a disturbing 52 percent of voters hold negative views towards her (only 38 percent favorable), unprecedented negatives exceeded only by those of Donald Trump (58 percent unfavorable). Trump and Clinton have the highest unfavorables since CBS began asking the question in 1984. This isn’t just sexism. In March of 2008, against Barack Obama, her rating was a far better 39 favorable-41 unfavorable.