Tio Bernie after Nevada

I do enjoy seeing headlines like this, from Politico:

The article is by Natasha Korecki and David Siders, Sanders sends Democratic establishment into panic mode 02/23/2020.

The primary race is just beginning, although I certainly hope Sanders wins big on Super Tuesday next week.

It's telling that the first concerned anti-Sanders Democrat the Politico article quotes is this one:

“In 30-plus years of politics, I’ve never seen this level of doom. I’ve never had a day with so many people texting, emailing, calling me with so much doom and gloom,” said Matt Bennett of the center-left group Third Way after Sanders' win in Nevada.

Bennett said moderates firmly believe a Sanders primary win would seal Donald Trump’s reelection. “It’s this incredible sense that we’re hurtling to the abyss. I also think we could lose the House. And if we do, there would be absolutely no way to stop [Trump]. Today is the most depressed I’ve ever been in politics.”

"Hurtling to the abyss"? Dude, have a glass of wine. Smoke a joint. Chill out.

If you've never heard of Third Way don't feel bad. Beltway Village reporters are basically the only ones who have heard of it. It's a hardline centrist group whose only purpose seems to be trolling any Democrat to the left of Joe Lieberman. If the Sanders movement is so progressive it depresses the three or four people who care what Third Way says, that's a good thing.

John King reports for CNN that actual Democratic voters don't seem share the establishment's panic at the moment. John King breaks down Bernie Sanders' effect on polls after Nevada 02/23/2020:

BTW, I notice that pundits like King have been referring to Nevada as "a liberal state".

Politico also quotes another professional centrist, Simon Rosenberg, hoping for a win for Status Quo Joe Biden. And they make this observation about Tio Bernie's win in the Nevada caucuses, "It was not just Sanders’ victory, but the lopsidedness of the outcome that struck fear into moderate Democrats. In one day, Sanders proved that he could broaden his coalition beyond the narrow base that many assumed would limit his appeal."

And, sad to say, there is Chris Matthews (Daniel Politi, Chris Matthews Slammed for Comparing Sanders’ Victory to Nazi Invasion of France Slate 02/23/2020).

Harold Meyerson has some important observations on the significant of Latino support for Tio Bernie (Bernie Blowout Highlights Latino Liberalism American Prospect 02/22/2020):

First, as in all communities throughout American history with a disproportionate share of immigrants, it’s the young - most born and schooled here, often more fluent in English than their elders - who not only are the most active politically but who also guide their elders through the labyrinth of American politics. As Bernie and Bernie’s policies speak more compellingly to the young than do any of his rivals and their policies, it’s no surprise that Latinos have tilted so sharply Berniewards in these caucuses.

Second, and even more fundamentally, the level of backing among Latinos for governmental support for economic equity and advancement has long exceeded that of any other demographic group in the electorate. One look at the exit polls on California ballot measures over the past quarter-century shows that, when voters have been asked to approve funds for schools or parks, and to decide on minimum-wage levels and the rights of unions, Latinos have been the most liberal voting bloc there is - more so, even, than African Americans. On one 1998 California ballot measure that would have greatly curtailed unions’ ability to involve themselves in elections (fortunately, it lost big), Latinos voted no at a higher rate than union members.

There’s an old conventional wisdom that says that because Latinos are supposedly more conservative on issues like choice or preserving the traditional family, they’re not all that liberal. It’s wrong. First, younger Latino voters aren’t conservative on those issues. Second, and more important, election after election has shown that when it comes to their choice of candidates, Latinos consider the candidate’s position on economic questions to be far more decisive than that on any cultural issue. [my emphasis]