By Kevin O’Connor, VTDigger.org
The New York Times calls it “the paradox for reporters covering the Democratic presidential race.” On one hand, there’s “Mr. Sanders’ dim view of the ‘corporate media,’ as he refers to it,” Times reporter Jason Horowitz noted in a recent story.
Sanders frequently says, “The corporate media talks about all kinds of issues except the most important issues.”
Then again, Sanders and his campaign staff are “far more accessible” than former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “whose wariness of the news media, after decades in the center of the public eye, is well established,” the Times reporter continued. “Mr. Sanders often speaks with reporters on the phone or on his campaign plane. He has become a Sunday morning show regular.”
This weekend, for example, Sanders appeared on ABC’s “This Week,” CBS’ “Face the Nation” and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he aimed to pivot from Saturday’s loss in South Carolina in an attempt to win Super Tuesday voters in March 1 contests in Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia.
“We got decimated,” Sanders said on NBC. “But I’m in Minnesota now. We’re looking to the future, not looking back.”
“The important point is that people throughout this country are resonating to our message,” said Sanders on CBS. “We have dozens of more states to go.”
Sanders faces obstacles on
Super Tuesday
In a Politico story headlined “Bernie’s Spring Break Blues,” reporter Darren Samuelsohn noted the coming primary and caucus schedule won’t help Sanders, who’s polling strong with young and first-time voters.
“The Democratic race is about to enter a four-week stretch where more than half of the party’s delegates will be awarded,” Samuelsohn writes. “But as the voting gets under way, one campus after another is closing down for weeklong breaks.
In all, more than half a million college students from 14 states will be on spring break at the same time that the presidential campaign train chugs onto their campuses.”
MSNBC reporter Alex Seitz-Wald also noted that “Democrats award delegates proportional to the vote total, so they often end up splitting delegates roughly evenly. That means Sanders can collect plenty of delegates in states he probably can’t win, like South Carolina, or delegate-rich Super Tuesday states like Texas and Virginia.” Although the candidate could finish this week winning more states than Clinton, she could draw more delegates.
“Sanders is strong in small states, while Clinton is stronger in bigger states,” Seitz-Wald writes. “Sanders’ targeted Super Tuesday states have a combined 288 delegates. Clinton’s six have 571.”
