As Sanders poised to take Nevada, Democrats face serious questions

Democrats avoided another complete caucus debacle in Nevada but face a stark reality — they must band together behind a moderate or watch Bernie Sanders march to the nomination.

Nevada once again showed that the current field, especially Elizabeth Warren, can’t compete against Sanders for liberal voters, and that’s given the Vermont senator a clear lane to the Democratic nomination.

Sanders even did well among moderate voters on his way to a rout in Nevada, according to entrance polls.

Warren once again fell miserably short in the Nevada caucuses, losing by more than a 3-1 margin to Sanders, according to early returns.

She appeared headed to her second straight fourth-place showing and her prospects don’t appear any better in the next contest in South Carolina.

In Nevada, Warren got just 6% of voters who called themselves moderates — less than even Tom Steyer, according to entrance polls.

Warren’s continued inability to siphon progressives away from Sanders means that only a moderate candidate can stop Sanders now.

Gulp, Joe Biden step forward.

The former vice president stayed alive, barely, in Nevada, and needs to pull off a miracle win in South Carolina next Saturday to get back in the race, then beat Sanders in some of the March 3 Super Tuesday contests.

That seems a lot to expect from the often bumbling Biden.

So, if not Biden, then can Mike Bloomberg stop Sanders?

Judging by his disastrous debate performance last week, that prospect seems like an uphill climb, even if he continues to spend hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money.

The wounded Bloomberg didn’t compete in Nevada and isn’t on the ballot in South Carolina either. His strategy of skipping the first four states is dubious at best and counts on the field being muddled heading into Super Tuesday.

And right now, the race isn’t that muddled — it’s Sanders who’s running away with it. The Vermont socialist got an incredible two-thirds of voters under age 30 in Nevada, demonstrating his power among young liberals.

It’s just no contest right now.

Amy Klobuchar? Forget it — she lacks the money or support to make a big impact.

Then there’s the most intriguing choice for moderate alternative to Sanders, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. But it’s hard to see right now where he can win — even in Super Tuesday states.

The only way Buttigieg can win is if the rest of the moderates flame out quickly, leaving him as the only centrist choice.

Democrats, of course, still couldn’t get their act together on Saturday to count the votes quickly enough for some networks and the Associated Press to call a winner, but early returns from the popular vote showed Sanders trouncing the field.

The turnout in Nevada — only about 5% of registered voters — once again calls into question the Democratic Party’s decision to allow early states to hold caucuses.

They’re complicated, hard to get to and hard to compile the results — all things that caused the system to crash in Iowa.

Why not force early states to hold primaries and avoid potential problems?

That would make too much sense for Democrats.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2HNSFQo