Bernie Sanders Is Surging Among White Democrats, Minorities Love Hillary [View all]

[oberliner]

When Hillary Clinton gives a speech in Houston on Thursday at a historically-black college calling for 20 days of early voting in every state, she will be reemphasizing her long-held commitment to defending the voting rights of minorities.

She will also be appealing to some of her strongest supporters: non-white Democrats.

In the early stages of the Democratic primary race, one of Clinton's rivals, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has drawn huge crowds and surged in polls, although he remains well-behind the former secretary of state.

Sanders appears to have been benefited from the much-discussed divide between traditional Democrats like Clinton and those who are more liberal on economic issues like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

But another divide has emerged that favors Clinton: white versus non-white Democrats. In a new Washington Post/ABC News survey, 56 percent of white Democrats backed Clinton, while 14 percent supported Sanders. Among self-described liberals, Sanders had 17 percent support, compared to 63 percent for Clinton. (Vice President Biden, who has given no indication he will run, polled in double-digits among both groups.)

http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/bernie-sanders-surging-among-white-democrats-others-really-hillary-n369251