34m ago / 3:01 PM UTC
After endorsing Biden, Yang shows Sanders some love
Balancing the ticket: Stacey Abrams, Kamala Harris top VP picks for ‘She the People’
Stacey Abrams and Kamala Harris are the leading Democratic vice-presidential picks among members of an influential group of women of color, according to an internal poll by She the People.
Women of color are among the most loyal Democratic voters in the country — 94 percent of black women voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016, according to exit polls — making their preferences especially relevant to Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, the only two presidential candidates to emerge from the most diverse candidate field in history.
Because both are white men in their 70s, whoever wins the nomination is expected to face pressure to pick a woman and/or a person of color as a running mate.
“We need record-high voter turnout of women of color to win battleground states in November. Now that both frontrunners are white men, alarm bells should be ringing for Democrats,” said Aimee Allison, the founder and president of She the People, which shared its survey with NBC News. “They need a woman of color for vice president to inspire the base or they risk losing the White House.”
Read the full story here.
59m ago / 2:36 PM UTC
A brief history of when Democratic debates have ended
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords endorses Biden a week before Arizona primary
2h ago / 1:42 PM UTC
FIRST READ: Biden takes command of race, leaving Sanders with difficult questions
Halfway through the primary contests, more Democratic voters have made it abundantly clear that they want Joe Biden’s restoration over Bernie Sanders’ revolution.
That’s the message from last night’s decisive Biden victories in Mississippi (where he’s ahead 81 percent to 14.8 percent), Missouri (60 percent to 35 percent), Michigan (53 percent to 37 percent) and even Idaho (49 percent to 43 percent). (NBC News’ Decision Desk says that Washington state, where Sanders is ahead by 2,000 votes with 69 percent in, is “too close to call,” and NBC just projected Sanders the winner of North Dakota’s caucuses).
So in the 20 Democratic contests beginning with Super Tuesday last week, African Americans, older voters, moderates and voters who call themselves somewhat (but not very) liberal overwhelmingly broken for Biden — and many of those are the most reliable voting blocs for Democrats. That’s compared with younger voters, very liberals and Latinos who have sided with Sanders.
Get the rest of First Read.
2h ago / 1:27 PM UTC
Key takeaways from election night — and they aren’t good news for Sanders
Bernie Sanders lost his make-or-break state of Michigan and Joe Biden delivered big victories that led Democratic elites to confidently declare him their presumptive nominee, marking a dizzying turnaround after the former vice president began the primaries 0-for-3.
Biden also won Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Idaho, while Sanders prevailed in North Dakota, according to NBC News projections. Washington state, where the candidates were running neck and neck, was still too close to call on Wednesday, but Sanders appeared to be underperforming in most states that voted Tuesday compared to the huge victories he scored in them in his unsuccessful campaign in 2016.
Biden also expanded his already substantial lead in delegates.
Here’s why Sanders’ theory of the case fell short and four other takeaways from a pivotal night in the 2020 election.
3h ago / 12:54 PM UTC
ANALYSIS: Sanders divided Democrats and handed Biden the lion’s share
Bernie Sanders is running the wrong campaign at the wrong time, and that is the greatest gift he could give Joe Biden.
In an election season in which most Democratic voters told candidates, party leaders and pollsters they cared only about beating President Donald Trump, Sanders focused first on smashing party pillars with a purist brand of progressive politics that demonized Democrats nearly as much as Republicans.
He chose to divide a party desperate for unity, and he ended up with the smaller share. Now, the rest of the party has turned on him.
Read the full analysis here.
3h ago / 12:46 PM UTC
