Note to Establishment Media: Bernie Can Win

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

09 March 16

Sanders Campaign Reacts to Michigan Win

keep hearing the talking heads on the corporate news saying "nobody" expected Bernie Sanders to win Michigan. It's a good thing that many Americans have stopped listening to the pundits. Most Americans are not sitting around waiting for CNN to tell them what will happen.

Gone are the days of reporters waiting for a story to develop. Instead they try to shape the story themselves. There is a place for opinion-based journalism. I for example don’t hide my support for Bernie Sanders. The problem is when reporters are selling themselves as nonpartisan but are participating in the selling of one candidate.

RSN readers know we are a progressive site that has endorsed Bernie Sanders. CNN, MSNBC, and other news networks claim to be nonpartisan. We see them constantly creating their own reality.

Without a doubt, Bernie Sanders still has an uphill battle to overcome the lead that Hillary Clinton has built up in the South. The delegates are out there though, so they should stop saying that Bernie can’t win.

Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders' campaign manager, has started to float the notion that Hillary Clinton is a regional candidate. She won Massachusetts and Nevada, but the majority of her victories have come in the South. Her only wins out of the South have been very close races. There is no doubt that the Sanders campaign failed at connecting with African Americans in the South. They still have work to do but made progress with African Americans in Michigan. Hillary Clinton got 65% of the African American vote in Michigan as compared to 31% for Sanders. It was a different story in Mississippi. Clinton won the black vote 85% to 11% over Sanders. Sanders' gains in Michigan were fueled by young black voters where one exit poll had Sanders only losing by 1 point with black voters under 35.

The Mississippi win helped Clinton to increase her lead in pledged delegates. The problem for the Clinton campaign is that there are no more southern states left.

North Carolina and Florida do not have the same demographics as the southern states that she dominated.

Sanders must now win about 56% of the remaining delegates to win the nomination. It won't be easy, but his campaign team stresses that the path ahead includes more states that play to his strengths.

The spin continues, we watch reporters on CNN and other networks making excuses for the Clinton campaign. It's almost as if CNN is the Clinton News Network. Bernie’s win should change the narrative, but don’t be surprised if the pro-Clinton spin continues.

The lesson the media should take from tonight’s results is to let the people’s vote determine the winner. On to Ohio, Illinois, Florida, and North Carolina.

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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