Andrew Dawson, Contributing Writer |
On Saturday Feb. 22, Sen. Bernie Sanders won the Nevada caucus. Sanders’ victory in Nevada is a huge accomplishment, helping him get one step closer to the primaries. Sanders won the state because he projected his policies in a popular way among voters. As a result, Sanders became the frontrunner for the democratic party.
Caucuses are local meetings where voters either nominate a candidate for presidency or elect delegates to vote for the president. There have been multiple caucuses held across the United States in the past several weeks, the first of which was held in Iowa. Sanders gave a strong performance early on, while Pete Buttigieg came in second by two delegate votes. The next caucus was held in New Hampshire where Sanders gave another strong performance, tying with Buttigieg. Sanders and Buttigieg had the same number of delegates, but Sanders received more votes.
These states set the stage for what transpired in Nevada. Sanders’ strong performances in the other caucuses helped him win Nevada by a landslide. He dominated over the other candidates, receiving 24 delegates and 46 percent of the votes. Joe Biden came in second but only gained nine delegates and 20 percent of the votes. Sanders’ lead is attributed to the support he is receiving from many different groups. He won the White and Latinx vote in addition to winning other votes such as the liberal, health care, climate change and income inequality votes. These votes helped him win most of the counties in Nevada. Sanders was estimated to win at least 16 of these counties. After winning the Nevada caucus, he said, “We are bringing our people together. In Nevada we have just brought together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition, which is not only going to win Nevada, it’s going to sweep this country.” Sanders’ incredible run in the beginning of the Democratic race has allowed him to take the lead in the National Democratic Party.
One of the biggest issues Sanders discusses is income inequality in the United States. Income inequality has been hurting the majority of Americans for several decades. Many young adults in the United States have a hard time paying back student loans and paying rent, and the income inequality seems to be getting worse every year. These problems have been recurring for a long time with almost no improvement. Sanders claims he will fix that problem and the best way of reducing college debt is by eliminating it. He believes college should be free for everyone. Other big issues Sanders is trying to tackle include minimum wage and taxes. The minimum wage in New York is currently $11.80 an hour. Sanders claims people can’t afford to live on that and wants to increase the wage to $15 an hour. He thinks this increase will help citizens live and help the economy grow. Sanders argues that the best way to fix income inequality is by raising taxes on the wealthy. If this were to happen, it would possibly help to increase the flow of money in the United States.
Sanders is currently leading the Democratic Party but the race is not over. In fact, it has only just begun. He must “out-duel” other democratic candidates such as Joe Biden, who already won the South Carolina caucus. The long road for finding the democratic nominee for the primary is getting more difficult. Two candidates have already dropped out of the race including Buttigieg, who won Iowa.
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