Sanders tie in KY and 11.6% winning margin in Oregon are amazing!
Last edited Wed May 18, 2016, 02:54 PM - Edit history (3)
I admit I was hoping for an even bigger Sanders blowout in Oregon. I am a strong Sanders supporter. But in trying to pull back and give this the long view--as objectively as I can, and with the history that I've lived, and that I know, in mind--it is astonishing that Sanders tied Clinton in Kentucky, this late in a primary process that Clinton started out believing was hers by right, with the entire Democratic Party establishment on her side, and with the entirety of the Corrupt Media on her side, and with every corporate and billionaire donor with an interest in controlling the U.S. president cooperating.
As the Guardian's election web site shows, Clinton's margin in Kentucky is one half of a percent with 100% of the precincts reporting, and reports are that she has conceded a tie.
Furthermore, Kentucky is a closed primary. It was almost impossible for independents to vote in the KY primary. So this was a tally of the Democratic Party BASE in KY. Half of that base is for Sanders, with independents having no say. Half of that party base is for substantial change, in the direction of the New Deal, NOT for "incrementalism" and neo-liberalism ("free trade for the rich"
.
But Sanders' decisive 11.6% win in Oregon is even more amazing. Again, I wanted a bigger blowout to give Sanders more strength coming to my state, California, which can turn this primary around. But when I think of what has been happening over the last month, with Clinton's DNC, and the Clinton campaign, and Democratic state party officials, and Democrats like Barbara Boxer, for godssakes, and the Corrupt Media on top of all that, all trying to force Sanders out before the primary is over, with every Corrupt Media news outlet saying Clinton 'won' and treating Sanders like he doesn't exist, and treating his supporters like they don't exist--or else repeating David Brock's latest goddamn lie, that we are thugs--it is, simply amazing that Sanders is still doing this well, and it is a credit to his ideas, to his supporters and to the man himself.
Oregon has a form of closed primary--call it semi-closed. They automatically register every citizen to vote, but you have to go out of your way to become a Democrat and vote in the Democratic primary in Oregon, and you have to remember to do that in time. You have to make a special request. You can't just crossover vote.
It's somewhat like the semi-closed primary in California. In California, you can register as "No Party Preference" or NPP (which means "independent" but doesn't use the word), but NPPs have to request a Democratic Party ballot to vote in our primary. In both cases, there is a step 2, and that step takes knowledge of the system. Young voters, new voters, independent voters likely have less knowledge of the system, and less practice at it, than traditional Democratic voters. So Oregon, too, was something of a test of the party's base in that state, less so than in Kentucky, but still important.
With all the heavy handicaps on Sanders, he BEAT Clinton in Oregon by a very substantial margin, indeed. (It has slowly moved into double-digit blowout territory as returns have come in during the night. I'm updating this OP accordingly. It's currently 11.6 pts., with 92.6% of the precincts reporting, at the Guardian elections site.)
Sanders, who, as we all know, dropped out a month ago, or ran out of money, or was bleeding staffers, and whom EVERYBODY OF IMPORTANCE told to "Get out!", "Go home!", "Stick a knife in him! He's done!", has nearly tied Clinton in one state and beaten her substantially in another on this very day, a month after his campaign was "over"!
He not only has not dropped out, has not run out of money and is not bleeding staffers, HE'S WINNING!
GO BERNIE!
= new reply since forum marked as read
she is a very strong candidate 
people don't remember 2008 very well it seems. 
I will not give one dime or lift one finger for her campaign, if the Dem party chooses to be that biased then that is of their own making. I will not be a participant to their game.
And yes I threw away some money to the Sanders campaign tonight 
Response to ReRe (Reply #40)
It's too bad the misery crew jumped into it trying, as always, to drag everything down to their level. And so I especially loved this paragraph:
I feel good to be supporting the only candidate in this race worth voting for. Given the plethora of crude, soulless power holders arrayed against Bernie, he does amazingly well.
Thanks for a great OP!
I haven't laughed this damn hard during the whole primary.
his fanbase claims victory. 
Looking more like a blowout every minute
