Sanders picks up two more victories

Momentum his, he tells backers

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont won the Washington state and Alaska caucuses on Saturday, two victories that give his campaign momentum heading into the Midwest and Northeast primaries next month.

Democrats in Hawaii also voted Saturday in the last contest of March.

Washington, the larg- est prize of the day with 101 delegates in play, and Alaska, with 16 delegates, held caucuses, essentially local voting meetings in which Sanders has done well.

In Washington, with 93 percent of the votes counted by late Saturday, Sanders had won 23 delegates, and Hillary Clinton had won eight. In Alaska, with all votes counted, Sanders had won 13, and Clinton had won three.

Hawaii Democrats were to award 25 delegates based on a “presidential preference poll,” a hybrid event in which voters show up at a scheduled meeting, like a caucus, but vote by secret ballot, like a primary.

Republicans did not hold any contests Saturday. The next nominating battle for both parties will be the April 5 primaries in Wisconsin. After that, Democrats hold caucuses April 9 in Wyoming.

New York is expected to prove rewarding to

Clinton, a former senator for the state, when its Democratic primary is held April 19. Clinton’s national campaign headquarters is in Brooklyn; on Saturday, Sanders opened an office in the borough’s Gowanus neighborhood, just a few miles from where he grew up.

Sanders thrashed Clinton in the caucuses in Idaho and Utah on Tuesday, by 57 and 59 percentage points, respectively, and his campaign had anticipated similar results Saturday.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Madison, Wis., as votes were still being tallied in Washington state, Sanders cast his wins Saturday as part of a Western comeback, citing the victories in Utah and Idaho as a sign that his campaign still had a path to the nomination.

“We just won the state of Washington. That is what momentum is about,” he told more than 8,000 cheering supporters. “Don’t let anybody tell you we can’t win the nomination or we can’t win the general election. We’re going to do both of those things.”

Noting the huge voter turnout — in Washington, Democratic Party officials estimated more than 200,000 people participated Saturday, close to the record set in 2008 — he told the crowd, “We are making significant inroads into Secretary Clinton’s lead.”

But the realities of the map mean that even a sweep on Saturday may not do much to bridge his divide with Clinton, who entered the day leading Sanders by 300 so-called pledged delegates, based on voting, and 400 “superdelegates,” party leaders and elected officials who can vote for the candidate of their choice.

Clinton anticipated the losses: She barely campaigned in the three states that voted Saturday, making just one day of stops in Washington state, and was spending Easter weekend with her family.

The string of victories and favorable states for Sanders can, however, serve an important purpose in keeping his campaign viable, with his emboldened supporters continuing to donate online and Sanders drawing crowds like the more than 15,000 people who turned out to hear him speak in Seattle on Friday.

Sanders’ rally on Friday just over the state line in Portland, Ore., went viral online after a sparrow perched on the candidate’s podium, prompting the hashtag #BirdieSanders.

“I think there may be some symbolism here,” Sanders said to a roar of applause.

It was strong support for Sanders that led Kirsa Hughes-Skandijs to her first caucus in Juneau, Alaska.

“This is the first time I’ve ever felt that kind of belief in a candidate, that they mean what they say and that they are not saying what they think people want to hear,” she said.

In Spokane, Wash., a line of caucus attendees snaked around a high school parking lot on Saturday morning.

“I think one of the biggest things is free tuition for students,” said Savannah Dills, 24, a college student who said she supports Sanders. “And getting big money out of politics. He’s not paid for by billionaires.”

Retiree Dan McLay, 64, attended the caucus in a hard hat, which he joked he needed because he was one of the relatively few Clinton supporters in the big crowd.

“Look at this thing in Brussels,” McLay said, referring to deadly bombings at an airport and subway station Tuesday. “We need a real experienced leader.”

Lately on the campaign trail, Clinton, bracing for some losses in the caucus states, has spoken out about the running commentary that Sanders’ campaign has drawn from enthusiastic supporters.

“I totally respect the passion of my opponent’s supporters, absolutely respect it,” Clinton said while campaigning in Washington on Tuesday.

“And here’s what I want you to know,” she continued, “I have, as of now, gotten more votes than anybody else, including Donald Trump. I have gotten 2.6 million more votes than Bernie Sanders” and “have a bigger lead in pledged delegates, the ones you win from people voting, than [President] Barack Obama had at this time in 2008.”

Clinton has shifted her focus and her words to taking on the Republicans in November, but Sanders’ proven influence over liberal voters she would need in a general election has made her calibrate her messages on both domestic and foreign policy.

With Sanders focused on income inequality and taking on Wall Street, Clinton has continued to reach out to working-class voters, including holding a rally Tuesday at a machinists and aerospace workers union hall at the Boeing factory in Everett, Wash.

“I was made an honorary machinist some years ago, so I feel a particular connection here to my brothers and sisters in the machinists,” she told the crowd. “I am no person new to this struggle. I am not the latest flavor of the month. I have been doing this work day in and day out for years.”

She also spoke of her support for the Export-Import Bank, the government-backed agency that provides low-interest loans to help companies doing international business, such as Boeing, and which Sanders has opposed as “corporate welfare.”

And as Clinton sought to demonstrate her toughness and preparedness to be commander in chief in response to the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday, she also had to avoid inflaming liberal primary voters who still associate her with her 2002 Senate vote to authorize the Iraq War.

On Wednesday, Clinton said the responses to the Brussels attacks by the leading Republican candidates, businessman Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, amounted to “reckless actions” that would alienate U.S. allies, demonize Muslims and embolden Russia.

Meanwhile, Sanders ran a 90-second ad in Hawaii called “The Cost of War,” featuring Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a veteran from Hawaii who reminded viewers that Sanders had voted against the Iraq War.

“Bernie Sanders will defend our country and take the trillions of dollars that are spent on these interventionist, regime change, unnecessary wars and invest it here at home,” Gabbard said, as the ad showed scenic views of Hawaii.

COURTING BLACK VOTERS

Washington and Alaska have relatively low percentages of black and Hispanic voters, two groups that have eluded Sanders but favored Clinton this year.

During a primary season in which she has faced strong competition and been bombarded with criticism of her trustworthiness, Clinton has maintained a strong bond with black voters. Black women, part of Obama’s winning coalition in 2008 and 2012, have locked arms behind Clinton, hailing her as a Democratic standard-bearer and friend.

Black women have played a big part in helping Clinton maintain her delegate lead over Sanders: About 8 in 10 across all the states where exit polling has been conducted have voted for her, and in some cases support has been above 90 percent.

Clinton has fared less well with other groups, in particular with younger voters and white men, many of whom have preferred Sanders. But, as in past years, black women are demonstrating that they are motivated. So far, they have made up at least a slightly larger share of the electorate than black men in almost all states with significant black populations, and a significantly larger share in seven of those states.

At black churches and businesses, Clinton has stressed her ties to Obama and touted endorsements from leaders such as Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a civil-rights icon. She has emphasized issues such as an overhaul of the criminal justice system and has campaigned alongside black women who have lost children to gun violence.

Black women have held top positions with Clinton over the years, including Maggie Williams, who was chief of staff when Clinton was first lady. In the current campaign, black women are in key roles, including senior spokesman Karen Finney and senior policy adviser Maya Harris.

“I feel a kinship to who she is. She knows and understands the battle that we fight every day,” said Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, a past chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. “She has a special place for us because she really gets it.”