Super Tuesday Democratic Primary
Tuesday, March 1st, 2016 "Super Tuesday" About one third of delegates needed to win a nomination in the Democratic Party Presidential contest will be awarded, all proportionally, as has been the case with all the primaries thus far. No state with primaries before March 15th can have a "Winner take all" primary. "Winning" or "losing" an individual contest has almost no bearing on the convention results. Sanders and Clinton were at a virtual tie before South Carolina. Sanders should do very well in the Midwest and Northeast states, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Colorado and Massachusetts. In the Southern states, Clinton should take a majority of delegates.
Sanders support comes from better educated and informed voters, and more economically distressed voters. Clintons support comes from establishment people who fear change and African American voters. The African American support for Clinton is a perplexing problem for the Sanders campaign. He has fifty years of unwavering support for equality, equal rights, voting rights. She has a thirty year history of pandering to the Black vote and supporting policies that are very destructive to African Americans, for profit prisons, "welfare reform", mandatory sentencing.
The critical date for the Democratic contest is March 15th. On that date North Carolina, Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Missouri hold their primaries, with a total of almost 800 delegates. If the delegate count after the 15th remains contestable the decision will not be made until after California, that primary does not take place until June 7th. Super Tuesday will let the Sanders campaign know if they have a chance of success with a higher percentage of African American voters, a critical objective for the campaign.
Jim Clyburn Wins SC Primary
It should be noted that Clinton spend most of the previous week in a frenzy of activity in SC (when she was not in Manhattan fundraising). Senator Sanders time was spent speaking to voters in later states.
Serving in Congress since 1992, Clyburn is the third ranking Democrat in the House. As the dean of SC Democrats Clyburn's endorsement of Clinton affirmed her victory in the state. Bernie Sanders was the overwhelming preference with white SC Democrats. He also led, in polling, with SC primary voters under 40. Those folks did not vote. When citizens lose hope, or believe they have no voice, participation appears to be a wasted effort. South Carolina is home to about 1.2% of the US population.
