Sanders’ win bigger than expected

▶ Biden campaign jubilant after 2nd place finish; Buttigieg falls to third

Bernie Sanders’ convincing win in the Nevada caucuses signaled his campaign is gathering strength and reaching voters who had previously eluded him, putting him on a path – for now – toward the Democratic presidential nomination.

The self-described democratic socialist’s triumph on Saturday left all of his rivals contending they were best positioned to curb his momentum.

Although Sanders had been poised to do well in Nevada, the senator from Vermont may have outpaced expectations by broadening his coalition of voters.

According to caucus entrance polls conducted by Edison Research, Sanders crushed the rest of the field with Latino voters and finished second only to Joe Biden with black voters. He was the top choice of voters younger than 65. He also won with college graduates and those without a degree, both men and women.

Sanders was easily the top pick of voters who consider themselves independents. And perhaps most crucially for his campaign, he was favored over Biden among voters whose top priority is defeating President Donald Trump in the November general election.

All of it is good news for Sanders. If he can pull off a surprise win in South Carolina on February 29, he will be heading into the Super Tuesday contests on March 3 on a roll.

The former vice president’s caucus night rally in Las Vegas was jubilant, with someone in the crowd calling Biden “the comeback kid” as early results showed him in second place.

Not long ago, the former vice president was the favorite in Nevada. But after disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, Biden’s showing in Nevada was strong enough for him to declare his campaign revived.

Sanders easily beat Biden among Latino voters, 53 percent to 16 percent according to entrance polls, leaving Biden to soak up older voters and moderates to try to remain competitive. Biden topped Sanders among black voters, 36 percent to 27 percent.

Now Biden, vice president under former president Barack Obama, faces perhaps the most critical week of his candidacy. Anything less than a win in South Carolina, with its large AfricanAmerican electorate, will make it that much less likely that he will be able to keep Sanders from the nomination.

The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor continues to surprise. Pete Buttigieg’s apparent third-place finish in Nevada keeps him in the game going forward, but his failure to broaden his appeal may limit his growth potential.

Buttigieg continues to do well with white, educated moderate voters, but remains deeply underwater with nonwhite voters. According to entrance polls, he received support from just 9 percent of Latino voters and 2 percent of black voters. That bodes poorly for Buttigieg not only in South Carolina, but also in ultra-diverse Super Tuesday states such as California and Texas.