Reprinted from The Nation
Madison, Wisconsin -- "So don't let anyone tell you we can't win the nomination, or win the general election," declared Bernie Sanders as he opened a huge rally here Saturday night. "We're going to do both of those things."
The week began with the news that the senator had swept the Democrats Abroad "Global Presidential Primary," winning 69 percent of the vote from Americans living in countries around the world, to just 31 percent for Clinton. On Tuesday, while Clinton took the Arizona primary by a comfortable 58-40 margin, Sanders was winning 78 percent of the vote in the Idaho caucuses. And he won 79 percent of the caucus vote in Utah.
On Saturday, the results were even better for the insurgent. Sanders swept the delegate-rich Washington State caucuses with 73 percent of the vote. He took 71 percent of the vote in the diverse state of Hawaii, where his caucus campaign was enthusiastically supported by Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and former governor Neil Abercrombie. And Alaska caucus voters gave 82 percent of the vote to Sanders.
The senator has now won 15 state contests. Clinton has won 20.
But of the last seven states to vote, Sanders carried six -- a pattern that had the candidate arguing that, as the competition has moved to Northern and Western states, the tide has turned in his favor.