Dipto Islam, March 9, 2016
Michigan says it wants a revolution by voting Bernie the
winner. Bernie Sanders won Michigan Democratic primary in a tight race proving
all the poll predictions wrong. High voter turnout confirmed his victory. His
strategy of unmasking Hillary Clinton's past support for trade policies that
killed US jobs proved fruitful.
Sanders narrowly won Michigan Democratic primary bagging 65
delegates, while Hillary got 58 delegates. He defeated Clinton by less than 2%
margin (49.9% vs. 48.2%) with 99% of precincts reporting. Sanders got a total
vote of 590, 386, while Clinton got 570,949. Michigan Democratic primary was a
delegate jackpot of 147 delegates. It was the largest amount of delegates for
the taking since Super Tuesday. After Michigan primary total delegate
count stands at Clinton 760 and Sanders 546.
Michigan result followed the usual
patterns: Sanders won younger ones, while Clinton did better among older
voters. Clinton won black voters over Sanders 65-30. However, that's not nearly
as strong as her performance among black voters in some Southern states. In
Michigan primary, Sanders was able to cut into Clinton’s consistent edge with
black voters. Exit polls suggested Sanders won three in 10 African Americans in
Michigan, his best showing so far. In southern states, Clinton enjoyed as high as 90%
black voters support. This indicates that Clinton’s black voter advantage is
declining.
“I just want to thank the people of Michigan who repudiated
the polls, who repudiated the pundits,” Sanders said in an impromptu 11 PM news
conference. “The
people’s revolution, the political revolution we’re talking about is strong in
every part of the country.” He said record breaking turnout was behind the
success.
Before the primary Sanders said, “if there is a large
turnout, we are going to win here in Michigan.” Voter turnout was historic high
compared to any other time. Voter turnout was 1,161,335 in 2016 compared to the
closest of its kind 601,219
in 2008. Turnout of other years are nowhere near. ABC
The result is indeed an upset for Clinton and her trumpeters
in the media who propagate that Sanders is unelectable. The result is also a
proof of manipulated poll results that showed a Clinton average lead of 21%.
Fox, ARG, and Monmouth polls conducted March 3- March 7, all showed a big
Clinton lead. All these polls had a margin of error of 4% to 6%. The actual
result shows that their margin of error was in fact more than 21%. All
Democratic national latest poll results show a Clinton average lead of 11%.
Michigan result hints that how erroneous, misleading, or manipulated these poll
results could be.
Despite continued media blackout and misinformation feeding
against Sanders by major main stream media, a Sanders’ victory in Michigan
hints that public is growing impatient with media lies and they have started to
defy media control over their thought process.
“I just want to thank the people of Michigan who repudiated
the polls, who repudiated the pundits,” Sanders said in an impromptu 11 PM news
conference. “The people’s revolution, the political revolution we’re talking
about is strong in every part of the country.”
Sanders’ Michigan win may prove that his strategy was
successful. Sanders had blasted
Clinton on trade in Michigan. He had targeted Clinton's past support for trade
policies like NAFTA and the Obama administration's Trans-Pacific Partnership.
He pointed out to the voters that such trade pacts killed or would kill the
kinds of manufacturing jobs that many Michiganders have.
“She was very, very
wrong, and millions of families around this country have been suffering as a
result of those disastrous trade agreements,” he said in a gathering of
Michigan workers who talked about how they lost their jobs to expanded trade. Sanders
accused Clinton of siding with big business and Wall Street.
More than half of Democratic and Republican voters in
Michigan, along with Republicans in Mississippi, said trade takes away jobs,
according to surveys of voters after they cast ballots. In exit polls, the
majority of Michigan Democratic voters (56
percent) said they think trade takes away U.S. jobs, and Sanders was strong
among those voters, with 56 percent of their vote.
Sanders’ Michigan win offers evidence that his message of
fighting for blue-collar workers and opposing free-trade deals can resonate—and
with big-delegate Rust Belt state Ohio coming up on the primary calendar on
March 15, he will soon have the opportunity to employ that message again. Expect
to see the Sanders camp amplify the trade message.
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