Bernie Sanders Enthusiasm Gap [View all]

[ellisonz]

By KATE LINTHICUM
June 21, 2015

Hillary Rodham Clinton was mobbed by fans when she spoke this week before a big crowd of Latino government officials from across the country. When another Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, took the same stage here Friday, the room was about half-empty.

"I haven't heard of him, to be honest," said Luciana Corrales, a school board member from San Ysidro, Calif. And anyway, she added, "I'm a Hillary supporter."

Talk of a Sanders surge has enlivened the campaign in recent weeks, as bigger-than-expected crowds turned out for his fiery speeches about taking on the "billionaire class" amid promising polling in the early-primary state of New Hampshire. But the enthusiasm gap on display at the nation's largest gathering of Latino policymakers highlights the reality of the major demographic challenges Sanders faces as he wages his long-shot bid for the presidency.

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"If your only significant constituency is older white voters, that'll be good in Iowa and New Hampshire, but when you hit Nevada and South Carolina you're in another world," said Democratic strategist Bill Carrick. "If you're going to be the nominee, you're going to have to do pretty well among Latino, African American voters, women, single women and millennials. That's the challenge for Bernie Sanders — to become more than a niche candidate and become a candidate with a broad coalition of support."

http://www.latimes.com/nation/immigration/la-na-democrats-latinos-20150620-story.html#page=1