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Sanders beats Clinton wins big in West Virginia vows to win the nomination
By Bonnie K. Goodman
May 11, 2016 4:18 AM MST
Democratic candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is continuing his winning streak as he marches towards a contested convention against rival Hillary Clinton. Sanders latest victory was the West Virginia primary, on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. Just after the polls closed MSNBC first projected Sanders the winner, although based on the polls the Vermont Senator was expected to win the primary. Sanders renewed his vow to win the Democratic nomination although he still trails Clinton in pledged delegates.
By 9:25 p.m. EDT, the Associated Press, called West Virginia for Sanders. With 94 percent of West Virginia’s precincts reporting Sanders led Clinton by a double-digit margin, with 51.4 percent to Clinton 36 percent of the vote. Sanders is expected to garner a majority of the 29 out of 37 delegates up for grabs.
Sanders delivered remarks at a rally in Eugene, Oregon, where they are holding their primary on Tuesday, May 17. Sanders promised to win the nomination, saying, “With our victory tonight in West Virginia, we have now won primaries and caucuses in 19 states. And let me be as clear as I can be: We are in this campaign to win the Democratic nomination.”
Sanders’ campaign released a statement shortly after MSNBC called the state for him. The statement read, “Every vote we earn and every delegate we secure sends an unmistakable message about the values we share, the country’s support for the ideas of our campaign, and a rejection of Donald Trump and his values.” Sanders also stated, “There is nothing I would like more than to take on and defeat Donald Trump, someone who must never become president of this country. But I believe that it is not enough to just reject Trump – this is an opportunity to define a progressive vision for America.”
Sanders released a second statement after the AP called the state. Sanders thanked “the people of West Virginia for the tremendous victory they gave us today in a state that provided a landslide vote for Hillary Clinton in 2008.” In 2008, Clinton won West Virginia by over 40 percent over then-candidate Barack Obama.
Continuing, Sanders said in the statement, “West Virginia is a working-class state, and many of the people there are hurting. They know, like most Americans, that it is too late for establishment politics and establishment economics. They want real change.”
Sanders then referred to the continuing polls including those from Quinnipiac University which show Sanders the stronger candidate to beat presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. Sanders indicated, “And after all the votes are cast and counted and this contest moves to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the delegates will decide which candidate is the strongest nominee to take on Donald Trump in November. All of the evidence indicates that I am that candidate.”
Speaking at a rally in Salem Oregon after his victory was official, Sanders declared, “Tonight it appears that we won a big, big victory in West Virginia. If we do well in the coming weeks in Oregon, in California, in New Jersey, in Kentucky and the other states, we still have that road to victory in winning the majority of pledged delegates.”
Sanders also referred to the state’s economic woes, “West Virginia is a working-class state, and like many other states in this country, including Oregon, working people are hurting. And what the people of West Virginia said tonight, and I believe the people of Oregon and Kentucky will say next week, is that we need an economy that works for all of us, not just the one percent.”
Sanders also acknowledged the battle he faces for the nomination. Sanders told his supporters, “Now, we fully acknowledge we are good at arithmetic, that we have an uphill climb ahead of us, but we are used to fighting uphill climbs. We have been fighting uphill from the first day of this campaign when people considered us a fringe candidacy. And our message to the Democratic delegates who will be assembling in Philadelphia is, while we may have many disagreements with Secretary Clinton, there is one area [where] we agree. And that is, we must defeat Donald Trump.”
Nebraska also voted on Tuesday, but not for delegates; they did that on March 5 where Sanders won 15 out of the 25 delegates up for grabs. Now Nebraska voted on presidential preference giving that second vote to Hillary Clinton. The victory is largely symbolic.
Clinton lost West Virginia based on her Ohio CNN town hall remarks from March. There Clinton promised to put a “lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business” with “her policies on climate change.” Coal mining is a primary business in West Virginia, and the citizens of the state have made sure Clinton paid for her remarks. Even before the vote Clinton knew the damage, she caused her campaign in the state; Clinton apologized that “the comments were taken out of context,” and she said she was “guilty” of a “misstatement.”
Republicans attacked Clinton as weak with her loss. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted “It is nothing short of embarrassing that Hillary Clinton has now been defeated twenty times by a 74-year old socialist from Vermont.”
Clinton campaigning in Kentucky attacked the Republicans in her remarks, “The right wing never gives up attacking me. I think they are really going to throw everything including the kitchen sink this time. I have a message for them: They have done it for 25 years and I am still standing.”
Clinton still has a lead of nearly 300 pledged delegates over Sanders with 1,716 pledged delegates to Sanders 1,430 delegates. Also, Clinton has 523 superdelegates to Sanders 39, which he is hoping to flip with his primary victories many by large margins. Democrats need 2,383 delegates to clinch the nomination; Sanders promises a contested convention.
Sanders is set to win Kentucky and Oregon, but Clinton leads in delegate-rich California and New Jersey. Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden weighed in on the race without any formal endorsement telling ABC News, “I feel confident that Hillary will be the nominee, and I feel confident she’ll be the next president.”
