Maine Caucuses Sunday After Bernie Sanders Takes Two of Three on Saturday

By Common Dreams staff

After strong wins in Nebraska and Kansas Saturday, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said on Sunday that he is gaining momentum with voters across the board, specifically noting his appeal to young voters.

Speaking to reporter Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sanders said, “We are doing better and better with younger people, whether they’re black, Latino or white.”

“Our numbers are getting better and better. In general, our numbers are getting better.”

Highlights:

Sanders on support in states with more racial diversity: “Well, for a start, Dana, what we are seeing in many cases is not just a racial divide, but a generational divide. We are doing better and better with younger people, whether they’re black, Latino or white. Our numbers are getting better and better. In general, our numbers are getting better. Truth is, we have not done well in the Deep South. But I am – I am absolutely certain that our numbers will continue to get better. And what we have done, based on yesterday, at this point, we have now won seven primaries and caucuses all across this country, all with double-digit victories.”

Sanders on Trump: “We won with 67 percent of the vote in Kansas. If the turnout is high in Maine today, I think we have a good chance of winning there as well. So I think we’re showing strength all across this country. And as the blurb you just played showed, we are doing better against Trump than Hillary Clinton is. I think there was a poll that came out today having us beat Trump in Michigan by 22 points. So if Democrats want the strongest candidate to defeat Trump, I think you’re looking at him.

Sanders on his path to victory: “We have made enormous progress over the last 10 months. We have now 5 million individual contributions, campaign contributions. We don’t have a super PAC. BernieSanders.com is doing fantastically well in raising money from ordinary Americans. We are going to stay in this campaign to the convention in July. Every state has the right to vote for the candidate of their choice…… BASH: No, senator, but will you do that even if Secretary Clinton gets the number of delegates needed in the contests before the convention? [SANDERS] Dana, you are – you are speculating. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think that we have a lot of strength in very large states all across this country. I think we’re going to do very well in New York State. I think we have a good chance of winning throughout the West Coast in California, state of Washington, Oregon. I think our message of a corrupt campaign finance system which has to be changed, a rigged economy where almost all new income and wealth is going to the top one percent, that is resonating all over this country. So I don’t want to speculate as to what happens tomorrow or three weeks from now. We think we have momentum, and we think we’re going to do just fine.” Sanders responds to Clinton claiming he lacks a credible strategy: “I believe that the United States should join every other industrialized country on earth in guaranteeing health care to all people. Is that fantasy? If every – if Canada can do it, the U.K. can do it, France can do it – you know what? I don’t think it’s fantasy to say that we can do it in the United States. Is it fantasy to say that our young people should be able to go to college regardless of their income as we establish free tuition at public colleges and universities? Well, Germany has that. Scandinavia has that. Countries all over the world have that. Is it fantasy to say that we should end the obscene level of income and wealth inequality with the 20 wealthiest people in this country, now wealth from the bottom 50 percent? All of that may be fantasy to the ruling class and the big-money interests in this country. I don’t think that’s fantasy to the working people in this country who are work longer hours for lower wages who are tired of establishment politics and establishment economics…”

Sanders noted that in a general election match-up, he is doing better against Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump than rival Hillary Clinton.

“If Democrats want the strongest candidate to defeat Trump, I think you’re looking at him,” Sanders said.

Sunday afternoon, Maine Democrats will caucus.