Clinton's relationship to African American voters is one reason she has won easily in states with substantial African American voting bloc, especially among the older voters. In Illinois, Sanders aggressively attacked Clinton for not rejecting the endorsement of her long-time ally, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Emanuel had lost his support in the Chicago African American community following the Laquan McDonald police shooting. The Chicago Tribune reported :
"The mayor's fight to keep a police video of the shooting under wraps led to weeks of street protests, allegations of a cover-up, calls for resignation and a plummeting approval rating.
"In the final days of the [Illinois] campaign, Sanders assailed Emanuel's record as 'disastrous.'"
Sanders also criticized the mayor's decision to close nearly 50 schools, which had a special impact on minority neighborhoods.
The narrowness of her home-state Illinois victory was a downer for Clinton, but she continues to build on her large delegate lead. Clinton's stump speech of inspiration, unity and interventionism "to keep us safe" is well received by Democratic audiences.
Assuming this response continues in upcoming primaries and caucuses, her nomination now appears virtually assured. Sanders' campaign rhetoric, however, has exposed vulnerabilities accumulated during her long political career.
Her interventionist stance, for example, disappoints many in the party's progressive base. Her unrelenting pro-Israel stance is not encouraging to voters who believe Israel's occupation is both immoral and destructive.
Donald Trump, her likely Republican opponent in the general election, has won strong support among what pollsters describe as "white evangelicals." Trump stepped on the third rail of vulnerability in American politics when he promised to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian issue from a "neutral" stance.
That incongruity from a conservative Republican candidate has not slowed Trump's momentum.
Trump's vitriolic demeanor and his bullying style, places him among a long line of demagogues in American politics. His go-for-broke style appeals to a simmering undercurrent of disenchantment and anger that might take him to the White House
In spite of her vulnerabilities, Clinton now appears to be the last hope to prevent a Trump general election victory.
Trump added to his delegate total Tuesday, winning three states, including Florida, Senator Marco Rubio's home state. Rubio lost to Trump by a two-to-one margin, which led him to suspend his campaign.
Governor John Kasich finally won a primary -- his home state of Ohio -- and quickly emerged as the Republican establishment's new preferred choice over Trump.
Clinton's vulnerability to Sanders' strategy of linking her to political and public figures who have antagonized ethnic minorities, is a strategy which an apt and well-mannered candidate like Kasich, could use to cut into her voter base.
Assuming Clinton has locked up her party's nomination, she could not have asked for a better sparring partner than Sanders to prepare her for her main bout in November.
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