Bernie Sanders’s Big Chance To Woo Non-White Voters

[Stellar]

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You’ve heard it over and over again from political analysts like me: Sen. Bernie Sanders has a problem with minority voters that will likely prevent him from winning the Democratic presidential nomination if he doesn’t fix it. The latest YouGov poll, for instance, has him winning 34 percent of whites but just 13 percent of Hispanics and 8 percent of black voters in the Democratic primary. You can win Iowa and New Hampshire with those numbers, but not the nomination.

The good news for Sanders is that Tuesday’s Democratic debate, the first of the primary season, should give him a chance to ameliorate one of his biggest problems with minority voters: They don’t know who he is.

Sanders has become better-known nationally since he launched his campaign April 30, but his name recognition has climbed substantially more among whites than among non-whites, according to YouGov polls.

More: FiveThirtyEight

[frazzled]

1. Yeah, white people are always ahead of the curve

and know more. They're more informed and discriminating.

Really. This has to stop. It is so insulting, and so wrong, to suggest that if only minority people knew more.

[ram2008]

2. I'm a minority: it's not insulting, it's true

White people are generally more politically involved, and right now a higher percentage seem to have opinions about the candidates. Just look at who turns out in all the midterms...

Pointing it out isn't insulting, it's the truth. We have to get minorities more involved in the political process.

[Cali_Democrat]

3. "White people are generally more politically involved"

You've been fed incorrect information.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-05-08/blacks-made-history-surpassing-white-voter-turnout-rates

[ram2008]

4. Both were general election years where Obama was on the ticket

The prospect of the first African American President thankfully increased AA turnout, but there are also minority groups, like Hispanics and Asians, and that was only two election cycles.

[Cali_Democrat]

5. Black voter turnout had been increasing steadily since 1996

[ram2008]

6. Again Blacks are not the only minority voter group

And the only year where their turnout surpassed whites was in a year an AA was on the ticket.

Then there's the midterms where all groups are lagging behind whites. Turnout is increasing, but there is still work to do.

[Cali_Democrat]

7. You made the claim that black voter turnout in 2008/12 was heavy because of Obama

The evidence actually shows that black voter turnout had already been steadily increasing over the years and actually increased at a slower rate when Obama was on the ballot.

I love math!

You could make the claim that other minorities don't turnout as much as whites/blacks, but blacks actually are politically involved.

To claim otherwise is dishonest.

[ram2008]

8. Did you just ignore the midterm graph I showed?

Midterms are just as important as general elections. My claim was that minorities are generally less politically involved than whites. Which is exactly true. The only election where that statement wouldn't be true is for Obama in 2012 with African americans who are just one part of the broader minority groups. Minorities not coming out to vote in the midterms is part of why we have the Teabagger congress.

There's also the fact that voter turnout is not the only measure of political activity.