Building a Social-Democratic Majority


Why has Bernie Sanders fared so poorly with black voters? Hillary Clinton’s sweeping victories in the South on Super Tuesday — largely propelled by her overwhelming support from African Americans — have led many observers to pronounce the Sanders campaign dead.

These autopsies are premature. With nearly three-quarters of pledged delegates still in play, it is much too soon to call an end to Sanders’s primary run.

We should similarly reject fatuous over-interpretations of Tuesday’s results. The New Yorker, predictably, took the palm for class-blind condescension, suggesting that Sanders’s blowout victory in Minnesota — “Lake Wobegon territory” — revealed that his support comes from “the serene parts of the country. He has radicalized the above-average.”

This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.