Sanders Forges Ahead Against Clinton As Campaign Heats Up

Bernie Sanders won two states on Saturday night, but that doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods, yet. His Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, trounced him in Louisiana, ultimately giving her more delegates than Sanders won with Kansas and Nebraska.

But that doesn’t mean it’s game over for Sanders. Although the next two weeks could be tough for the Vermont senator, by no means is he out of the race. He pulled off a surprise win in Oklahoma on Super Tuesday, and on Sunday, he could pull off a win in the Maine caucuses, where the race is considered tight.

And on March 8, 147 delegates are at stake in Michigan, where Clinton leads Bernie Sanders significantly. However, March 15 is where either candidate could win or lose big. Since last summer, Sanders has steadily gained on Clinton in the state of Florida, whittling Hillary’s lead from nearly 60 points. She still holds a significant lead over him, at 58.3 percent to his 31 percent. The striking thing about this, however, is how quickly he has gained on her in recent months, and it’s quite possible that Florida could be a closer race than expected.

After his victories in Kansas and Nebraska, Sanders spoke with the New York Times.

“I don’t want to disturb the media narrative too much — don’t get people too upset, but don’t write us off. I think we have a path toward victory.”

Hillary’s lead comes mainly from the superdelegates, which are elected officials and hand-picked Democratic party leaders, so naturally they are pledged to Clinton, who is the de facto party choice for nominee.

Sanders conceded that he is trails among a group of reliable voters — the elderly.

“We are losing badly among elderly whites, elderly blacks and elderly Latinos. We are doing much, much better and in some cases winning, among younger Latinos, younger blacks and certainly among younger whites. But I think we are gaining momentum within the Latino community and the African-American community. But we still have a long way to go.”

I'm not quite sure how anybody lives on $7,600 a year, but the sad reality is we have 20 percent of seniors who live at that level today.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 6, 2016

Early Sunday, Sanders spoke with CNN, the network whose parent company has been a major contributor to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. During his interview with Dana Bash, Bernie responded to criticism that his policies are nothing but fantasies. He also pooh-poohed reports that he’s still not a viable candidate and that he ought to leave the race.

“I believe that the United States should join every other industrialized country on Earth guaranteeing health care to all people … I don’t think it’s fantasy to think we can do it in the United States. Is it fantasy to say that our young people should be able to go to college regardless of their income … is it fantasy to say that I believe that we should end the obscene level of income inequality? I don’t think that’s fantasy to the working people in this country, who work longer hours for lower wages who are tired of establishment politics.”

It's time for the Walton family to pay their workers a living wage and get off of government welfare. pic.twitter.com/UE3GNqRUdm

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 6, 2016

In a press release dated March 3, Sanders blasted Clinton as the “Outsourcer-in-Chief” for her history of advocating “job-killing” trade deals.

“Hillary Clinton supported NAFTA. NAFTA cost 850,000 U.S. jobs. 43,000 jobs alone in Michigan. 35,000 jobs in Ohio. 35,000 in Illinois. Hillary Clinton supported Permanent Normalized Trade Relations with China. That deal cost the country 3.2 million jobs.”

Sanders also noted that Clinton supported trade deals with Panama and now seems favorable to the TPP, another trade deal that could devastate U.S. sovereignty as well as jobs.

And in another press release dated March 4, Sanders released a video of Hillary telling an Indian audience that outsourcing American jobs has “benefited many parts of our country.”

As Maine voters head to the polls, Sanders and Clinton ready themselves for a crucial debate Sunday night in Flint, Michigan. The debate airs Sunday at 8 p.m. EST on CNN with Anderson Cooper moderating. The network will also live stream the event.

[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]