What has happened in this Thursday to Wednesday week in Bernie Sanders campaign for the US presidency. SuperTuesday on March 1st will be a huge day for both candidates.

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The Real Score:

An article in the New York Times (2/22/2016) claimed that the delegate count for Clinton and Sanders stood at 502 to 70. However, the Times had added in the SuperDelegate vote now rather than waiting for the convention.

A Times reader emailed his comment: Braden of Beacon, NY wrote, in part, "The race is tied 51-51 in pledged delegates. Is the NY Times seriously running an analysis that suggests that Bernie has no way of catching up? Were your reporters not alive in 2008? Bernie is in a stronger position than President Obama was in 2008 in pledged delegates. The superdelegates don't vote until the convention and they can switch their ENDORSEMENT anytime before then."

Bernie at University of Massachusetts:

Many students in the crowd of 9,000 who lined up at the Mullins Center Monday evening heard Sanders for the first time. By all accounts, they liked what he had to say about the rigged economy, the broken campaign system of big money, and the need for tuition-free public colleges and universities.

Massachusetts -- a March 1^st SuperTuesday State:

The others are Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and American Samoa. Since Bernie won more of the Latino vote than Hillary did in Nevada, it looks good for his chances in the Colorado caucuses. Minnesota, Oklahoma and Vermont (Hillary has no chance here!) could hopefully end up in Bernie's column along with Massachusetts. What kind of a showing Bernie will make in the other states will depend on both the turnout and the black vote. With the exception of the Colorado caucus, the other states all have open primaries, meaning that independents do not have to change their registration in order to receive a Democratic ballot.

A Plea To African-American Voters:

In a radio ad playing in several states, Spike Lee gives listeners a WAKE-UP call. Spike says, "99% of Americans were hurt by the 2008 recession and many are still recovering; Bernie is not bought and will Do The Right Thing when he gets in the White House."

Can Democrats Take Back the Senate?

Many critics cite Republican control of the Senate as the big obstacle for a President Sanders to "get anything done." This year provides a golden opportunity, however, for Democrats to obtain a majority. Only ten Democrats are up for re-election while twenty-four Republicans are. The Democrats need to defend the seats they have anto take five from the Republicans.

Here are the ones to keep an eye on:

Maggie Hassan, the New Hampshire governor is running against Sen. Kelly Ayotte who has made some "bad" votes.

Ted Strickland, a former governor of Ohio, is matched against Rob Portman.

Russ Feingold, who lost his Wisconsin seat in 2010 to Ron Johnson, is running to get it back.

Alan Grayson, controversial member of Congress from Florida with a sense of humor, faces a Primary before he can run for Marco Rubio's seat.

Tammy Duckworth of Illinois is a disabled Iraq War vet who will contest Sen. Mark Kirk for his seat.

Joe Sestak, a retired vice admiral will have to win a four-way April 26^th primary in Pennsylvania in order to face-off against Sen. Pat Toomey.

New National Poll by Reuters:

According to the 5-day rolling poll results released on February 23, Sanders has the support of 41.7 percent of voters who identify as Democrat compared to Clinton's 35.5 percent. The poll sampled 998 voters from across the country who identify as Democrats or as independents who lean towards the Democratic party.

Another recent poll by REPASS showed Sanders with a lead of 57 percent to Clinton's 27 percent in West Virginia. This is regarded as significant because it backs up other data that shows Sanders has support from low-income whites. Main stream media usually maintains that Bernie gets his support from liberals and the left. The strength of Bernie's support in the state moved a state senator, campaigning for governor, to endorse Bernie rather than Hillary. WVA has its primary on May 10^th.

Sanders' Press Conference Addresses Poverty in SC:

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Bernie Sanders on Wednesday detailed proposals to reduce poverty in the United States and he attributed the increase in part to a 1996 welfare reform bill which he opposed at the time as "an assault on the poor, women and children, minorities and immigrants.

Sanders said 21 percent of children in the United States and 37 percent of African-American children live in poverty. In South Carolina, the childhood poverty rate overall is greater than the national figure. The 27 percent overall rate in South Carolina includes 138,000 black children and 34,000 Hispanic children.

"What welfare reform did in my view was to go after some of the weakest and most vulnerable people in this country," Sanders said. "During that period, I spoke out against so-called 'welfare reform' because I thought it was scapegoating people who were helpless, people who were very, very vulnerable. Secretary Clinton at that time had a very different position on 'welfare reform.' She strongly supported it and worked hard to round up votes for its passage."

More Examples of Sanders' Amendments:

Support for Treating Autism in Military Health Care: Sanders worked with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand(D-NY) to pass an amendment by a vote of 66-29 ensuring that the military's TRICARE system would be able to treat autism.

Exposing Corruption in the Military-Industrial Complex (November 2012): A Sanders amendment required "public availability of the database of senior Department officials seeking employment with defense contractors"-- an important step toward transparency that revealed the corruption of the revolving door in action.

(From Daily Kos)

Authors Bio:

Now retired and a writer, I am a feminist and political activist, a radical Democrat (have come to dislike the term "progressive"), and a blogger. Have done political tours of Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras, West and East (way back when)Germany, China, etc. Learned a lot about the US through other people's eyes. Wrote about my life in "Discovering America: A Political Journey." And was one of six winners of an international essay contest sponsored by Cuban ministeries.