Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Campaigns In Wisconsin. Darren Hauck/Getty Images. All rights reserved.Full disclosure: Bernie Sanders was not my original choice for the Democratic nominee, but I have supported his candidacy since it became a two person contest.
Over the weekend, Bernie Sanders won landslide victories in three primaries: Alaska, Washington and Hawaii. Far from crumbling, the Sanders campaign continued to '#FeeltheBern', winning by 82%, 73% and 70% respectively in the contest. This impressive achievement netted the Green Mountain State senator an additional 95 delegates and dispelled the possibility of his conceding the nomination to Hillary Clinton. But are these victories anything more than proud defiance? Do they really indicate a shift in momentum and the possibility of a second primary defeat for Mrs. Clinton?
The 28 March victories have helped Mr. Sanders narrow his rival’s lead somewhat, but Mrs. Clinton enjoyed an advantage of over 300 pledged delegates after the Arizona, Idaho and Utah primaries last week. The weekend victories were important, but their impact was not as great as it might have been. The three states in question had a total of 142 pledged delegates in play, which would have cut Mrs. Clinton’s lead by half if these had been 'winner-takes-all' states, but the Democratic Party’s primaries are all proportional allocation systems. Bernie’s big wins translated into a net gain of only 56 delegates, which still leaves Mrs. Clinton with an advantage of 239 pledged delegates [1].
