…Democrats rode a roller coaster, where first Hillary Clinton, and then Bernie Sanders was declared the winner.
On the other side of the aisle, it wasn’t a contest. From early reports, Donald Trump took the state handily, and he took Pennsylvania and Maryland, as well. In fact, he swept all five states. Republicans? What is wrong with you?
Meanwhile, the Democratic party didn’t have a nail-biter, but it wasn’t a sweep either. There was this:
…which presented an entirely different picture for the Democratic party. (The above chart is from the New York Times.)
And the AP said this:
It made sense that the state with the highest wealth-income gap would vote for Sanders, who has been talking about that issue more than any candidate (ever).
But in the end, Connecticut went for Clinton (as did four of the other five states that held primaries yesterday — save for Rhode Island). My Mother Courant said that at least here, the Nutmeg State, she “edged” out Sanders.
So onward we go.
Dating Jesus 
I hope Bernie takes The Revolution all the way to Philly and doesn’t capitulate too soon. His voters deserve a plank or two in the platform. The Democratic Party is going to need the turnout he’s generated come November.
With a few exceptions, Clinton won a few of the richest and the biggest of the poorest towns in the state while Sanders got the upper middle to lower middle. It also looks like the whiter the town the better Sanders did, again with some exceptions. A lot is going to depend on how much Sanders will work to motivate his supporters to get behind Clinton. Especially the women and the youngsters. I don’t think third party candidates will be much of a factor. The older white male Sanders voters could swing to Trump as crazy as that might seem.
Interesting, yes? And I’ve read about the back-and-forth between Sanders and Trump supporters, although as one of the former, I just don’t see it.
I don’t see that either. But you never know about White Folk. Until you do. Then it’s usually bad news.
I had a long and involved argument with a professor who insists that the supporters are one and the same — disaffected, done with the way things have done. That strikes me as a uniquely surface analysis.
It strikes me the same way.
Disaffected? Sure. Who isn’t this cycle? But when you look at the demographics, and the political identities asserted within those demographics, there are distinct differences. I think there is actually more of a chance that moderate, pro-corporate Republicans would shift to Clinton than Sanders supporters shifting to a Republican ticket. Especially if we take Chuckles Koch seriously.
But…like I said…White Folk. There’s a surprise in every box!
White folks. They’re fickle fuckers.
…and they’re scared…which always makes them more apt to lash out in unpredictable and unnerving directions.
We do the stupidest stuff when we’re scared. You’re right. Like cornered weasels.
People aren’t always attracted to candidates for reasons we’d like to think, usually because thinking isn’t part of their equation. While it’s not Sanders fault, “Bernie Bros” exist. They might not call themselves that and their numbers might not be big but they’re out there.
I think the best things Bernie could do after the convention is…
a) use the political capital he’s amassed during the campaign to get Democrats into Congress, and…
b) use that capital to create an alternative Party, a social democratic/pro-labor Party, (not Democratic Socialist…there’s a difference), that embodies the reformism his campaign has stressed that could lift the pawl on the ratchet effect and force the Democratic Party to shift direction and move away from the neoliberal/pro-corporate center back toward The Left.