VA-GOV: African American primary voters key factor in Northam victory.

[RandySF]

Link to tweet

[still_one]

1. That may be Virgina, but that same pattern also seemed happen in places where there

wasn't that much of an African American showing

[JI7]

2. AA are almost always key in a democratic primary

Unless it's a state without many AA.

[stevenleser]

3. States where Hillary won are not good places for Sanders surrogates to run.

This is an indication of how Sanders would have fared in these states if he had been the Democratic nominee. He had no chance to contest Virginia, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, Georgia or Florida against Trump. That alone would have doomed his chances.

[still_one]

4. Sander's surrogates did not do well in the 2016 general election

[stevenleser]

5. True but I am virtually certain that if presented that evidence they would argue

They were dragged down by the top of the ticket. I would disagree with that but knowing those folks I am 100% certain that is the argument they would use.

Of course we see differently now, now that there is no Hillary upon whom to lay the blame for their defeats.

[still_one]

7. I agree Steve

[QC]

9. Which of those states did HRC carry? n/t

[stevenleser]

10. Against Sanders? All of them.

Ran close in all of them against Trump, won Virginia.

[StevieM]

15. She was a good enough candidate to win most of them, had it not been for the FBI sabotaging

he candidacy with 11 days to go in the election.

[QC]

18. I tend to agree with you. Comey probably turned the election,

which is why it's odd to see so many Democrats singing his praises.

I can understand "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," and building him up now is smart, and he clearly has his good qualities, but he's not a friend to Democrats.

[BainsBane]

25. Singing his praises?

How is it you can't understand that people can oppose Trump's obstruction of justice in firing Comey and Comey's interference in the election?

[QC]

26. I mean the adoring Facebook memes and such.

The ones celebrating his lovely family and all that.

I agree that one can disagree with his interference in the election and also disagree with obstruction of justice. That's what thinkers do. Others act like superfanz. That's just silly.

[BainsBane]

27. Clearly you and I don't have the same

FB friends. I've never seen anything like that.

[QC]

28. The people posting those are Democrats,

or at least profess to be.

And in fairness, Comey is pretty much a choirboy next to Trump, though that's not saying much.

It's useful to support him now, in a tactical sense, but the FBI has always been pretty right wing. Hoover made sure of that.

[Demsrule86]

21. She carried Virginia.

[JI7]

13. how about Montana and Nebraska ?

[JI7]

14. he would have still lost without Sander's endorsement

[nikibatts]

6. I think we all learned a lesson. RESIST!!

[mcar]

8. That would be the Democratic base

Glad to see it.

[Cha]

11. YES! Our Democratic Base.. Many Thanks to our Base!

Mahalo, mcar

[Demsrule86]

22. This is the base that comes out year after year...and the 'new' excited voters again fail

to turn out.

[Cha]

32. Exactly, Demsrules!

to our Dems!

[renegade000]

12. I voted for Perriello, but can completely understand this.

One of the things that turned me against Sanders during the primary was comments by his campaign surrogates that Clinton's primary wins in VA and other southern states didn't matter because we were part of the "Old Confederacy." This was a big middle finger to southern Democrats and African American voters in particular. I mean you wouldn't dismiss a German social democrat's political opinions by saying, "well your view doesn't matter because you're from the old Third Reich!"

[Cha]

16. That was completely bizarrely divisive

[StevieM]

17. Ironically, Sanders probably won the votes of the most conservative voters.

The main thing that seemed to effect them was the fake email scandal.

And, of course, Bernie also won over a lot of other voters based on the positions he took on the issues.

Bill Bradley ran to the left of Al Gore. But the group he did best with was self-identified conservative Democrats.

[JTFrog]

19. But that's not important....

We must be reaching out to those Independents and Republicans instead....

[ananda]

20. It's a complete mystery to me why ..

.. but African Americans do not seem to like Sanders.

Geez! Sanders is a really good guy when it comes to
my own true Democratic values, which means a good
life for everyone.

[Demsrule86]

23. Sen. Sanders believes that economics are everything... and has shown little interest in other

issues (civil rights and abortion issues), But bringing down big banks won't stop a policeman from shooting a POC or a state from banning a woman's right to choose and getting away with it. I believe this is why POC and more than a few women do not support him.

[redgreenandblue]

30. That is the narrative. And it is demonstrably false.

In the primaries for the presidential election, Hillary won amongst both African Americans and women as a whole. But Bernie narrowly won amongst black voters below the age of 30 and massively won with women below the age of 30. Bernie has problems mainly with old voters.

As for him showing little interest in other issues, that is simply laughable. His voting record on civil rights and choice is flawless. He was the only presidential candidate to use the phrase "Black Lives Matter" etc.

[Demsrule86]

31. He has said more than once that economics trump social issues.

Consider this...November 21st...after the election.

"In a speech Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) urged attendees to move away from “identity politics” and towards policies aimed at helping the working class......Sanders’s big finish: “One of the struggles that you’re going to be seeing in the Democratic Party is whether we go beyond identity politics.”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sanders-boston-speech-identity-class-politics

[JI7]

24. the Montana and nebraska races didn't have much AA

And his candidates lost there also

It comes down to local level politics

[Dawson Leery]

29. Minorities are not populists.

Historically, they have been the target of populist campaigns, scapegoats for the majority.

Though Bernie is for minority rights, the rhetoric does not sell with AA's.

Also, breaking up the big banks will do NOTHING to help those minorities that are the targets of law enforcement.

[RandySF]

33. "Big Banks" were not responsible for red-lining in the 60's and 70's.

[BluegrassDem]

34. Bernie and Elizabeth Warren won't do well with AA's in 2020 either

The big banks and Wall Street rhetoric really doesn't penetrate in black communities. All they seem to talk about is breaking up big banks and reigning in Wall Street. That message may work in New England, but it's just not a message most black people care about. Not sure how breaking up Chase Bank will help put food on the table.