ELECTION 2020

[HairOfTheDog]

The North Dakota caucus/primary counts are completed.

Bernie Sanders won the state, however there aren't a lot of delegates at play and Biden also got a lot of votes (and will thus get a high percentage of the allocated delegates).    

Washington state went big for Bernie over Hillary Clinton in 2016 and he may win it again, but it's neck and neck right now.  So, even if Bernie pulls it out, he'll be splitting the delegates with Biden.

As of this morning, the delegate counts to-date for the Democratic candidates stand at (1) Joe Biden: 823, (2) Bernie Sanders: 663, (3) Tulsi Gabbard: 2.

I was pleasanty surprised to see the east side of the state (where I live) to be divided over Bernie and Biden. I wasn't surprised though to find that Trump still won on this side of the state. I live in a very red area.

I live in a very red area too now.

I thought Bernie's press conference today was really smart and responsible.  He acknowledged that he's getting beaten by his friend Joe Biden (they truly have been friends for some time). 

He also acknowledged that he and his staff have been told thousands of times by voters that they agree completely with Bernie's platform, but they're voting for Joe because they think he has a better of chance of beating Trump.

So, Bernie said he's looking forward to debating Joe Biden one-on-one in Phoenix on Sunday (no live audience due to Corona virus) and letting the voters decide who's best qualified. 

Bernie reiterated his profound criticisms of Trump, along with his commitment to support the Democratic nominee fully and do everything in his power to defeat Trump in November.

He didn't concede the race, but he seemed to be laying the groundwork (the delegate math doesn't look good for him).  He explicitly told Biden what he will be asking him to address during their debate on Sunday, namely:  climate change, income inequality, criminal justice reform, educational access for everyone, healthcare for everyone, etc. 

In so doing, Bernie has given Biden a public heads up and Uncle Joe won't have any reason to be unprepared -- Bernie has set him up to win over as many Bernie supporters as possible (which the Dems will need to show up in droves to beat Trump in November).   

While Biden is beating Bernie by large margins overall, Bernie is beating Biden with voters under 40 years old across the board.  

And still...............I'm reading comments from Democrats and Biden supporters accusing Bernie of trying to dictate Joe Biden's agenda and being an ego-driven narcissist.  It's very weird to me.