Tonight, we’ve got some primaries, and though the Republican race is over, the big surprise is that the Democratic primary isn’t (officially). Bernie Sanders, a man no one thought was going anywhere in this, has tapped into something that few could have expected. His win in Indiana proved he isn’t going away, despite other Democrats saying he should.
In Indiana, the last place Sanders scored a big win, he outspent Clinton $2 million to… zero. She spent nothing on Indiana. That is not the campaign of someone taking her opponents seriously. It allowed Sanders to shock the Democratic Party and add some extra life to his campaign.
Now, Clinton is taking Sanders seriously. She is spending money in Kentucky, has held a bunch of campaign rallies, and is making a play for a state she won in 2008 against Barack Obama. She is, dare I say it, feeling the Bern.
Sanders is forcing Clinton to the Left, which is exactly what she did not want to do coming in to this election cycle. Recognizing an electorate tired of polarization, a more moderate Clinton would have probably done much better and appealed to more people. They already distrust her honesty as a leftist, and Sanders is just making her appear more and more fake on the subject.
Clinton has to eliminate Sanders soon in order to wrap this up and start building up a coalition to take on Trump – despite polling showing her winning the election, the fact is that she has to make sure the usual support comes out to the polls for her. And her approval rating is low, too.
If Sanders wins Kentucky, Clinton will become desperate. Not because she’s in danger of losing, but because that is more time she has to spend opposed by members of her own electorate. Sanders won’t win big in Kentucky, if he wins it at all. However, Oregon could swing his way, and other western states could, too. He has to win those by big margins if he wants to try and stop Clinton. However, he doesn’t need to stop her. He can simply hold on to his voters and force Clinton to make concessions to the socialist movement or march with them out of the Party.
And Clinton knows this, which has to be the most frustrating part of all.
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