Opinion: The Beginning of the End for Bernie Sanders

By Alexa Gagosz on January 28, 2016

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton debating in Iowa by Twitter user @BostonDotCom

 

For the democratic party, it was up and down for a while as to who would run against Hillary Clinton for the democratic nomination until socialist and far left-winger Bernie Sanders arrived on stage and took more approval ratings of young people and college students than any other candidate on either of the main stages.

Donald Trump may have captured people’s attention across the nation with his ridiculous behavior and threats to minorities, women, and also the general safety of the American people; but Bernie Sanders kept the the young people’s attention and promised to reform student loans and make the first two years at a state school free of charge.

More than ever, young people are paying attention.

However, with Iowa just a few days away, it might just not matter for Sanders.

Clinton and Sanders have been deadlocked, and if Clinton wins in Iowa on Monday, it may mean the beginning of the end for Sander’s entire campaign.

If Clinton wins in the caucus, it would give her the momentum and speed when heading into New Hampshire, where she is barely behind Sanders. Although, even if Clinton loses in Iowa, it might mean the same for Sanders’ campaign.

According to a The Cook Political Report analysis, Sanders support typically comes from white liberals in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Vermont, his home state. With Clinton, she can nearly crumble him with her advantage of having black and hispanic voters that could help her own the race. It’s possible that if he won in both New Hampshire and Iowa that he could gain more voters, but the possibility has been analyzed and come to be highly unlikely.

The analysis goes on to say:

“Ninety-eight percent of pledged Democratic delegates will come from states with lower shares of liberal whites than Iowa and New Hampshire. . . . In other words, if Sanders prevails narrowly in Iowa or New Hampshire, his support among liberal whites and in college towns . . . would be entirely consistent with a scenario in which he also gets clobbered by Clinton nationally.”

In other words, no matter what happens in Iowa on Monday, Clinton’s advantages are noted to be too great for Sanders. Even if he does win, he has a long, tough road toward the nomination, according to Real Clear Politics.

Although, Sanders is prepared for the loss, according to an interview he had with the Associated Press.

“If I lose Iowa by two votes and end up with virtually the same number of delegates, is that a must-lose situation?” asked Sanders on Tuesday. “Is that a tragedy? No.”

Sanders told the Associated Press that he is proud of the moves and gains his campaign has made and believes he will make it to the convention with a win.

When asked if he needs to win Iowa in order to secure the Democratic nomination, he called it “mythology.”

As of now, Sanders is taking the lead from Clinton by only four points, 49 to her 45.

However, it might just not be enough to lead by to win the nomination.

 

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