Who knew a popular candidate running for president would be another old white guy?
Self-described democratic socialist Bernie Sanders is polling ahead of Hillary Clinton in two early states in the Democratic contest.
In New Hampshire, he leads Clinton by seven percentage points.
In Iowa, the lead grows. Clinton, who was the presumed front-runner for the nomination, is now trailing Sanders by ten percent.
Does Sanders have an actual chance to win the nomination? Or even the presidency?
Or are these polls, which take place months before the actual contests in each state, just full of hot air?
I believe a hardcore leftist with frizzy hair and big glasses has a chance, but Sanders’ campaign faces a significant problem before it can become a success.
Sanders’ outreach with black voters needs an improvement.
Only 23 percent of black voters see Sanders in a favorable light according to a Gallup poll, compared to an overwhelming 80 percent supporting Clinton.
This voting block is a must-win for any candidate seeking the Democratic nomination. South Carolina, which is the third state to have a Democratic primary or caucus, has a largely black electorate that votes in the Democratic primary.
Clinton is the undisputed leader there, taking 46 percent in a recent poll.
Sanders barely even registers at second place.
He currently has 23 percent in the polls, just one more percent than current vice president Joe Biden, who hasn’t even announced whether he will run for president or not.
His problems with black voters came to a head in August when members of the Black Lives Matter movement interrupted a campaign rally in Seattle, preventing Sanders from speaking altogether.
The protesters demanded Sanders do more to include issues like police brutality in his campaign platform.
Many liberal commentators said the protesters were targeting the wrong candidate.
Sanders has a consistent record of supporting civil rights and went to hear Martin Luther King’s speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
However, voters are more concerned about what a candidate is going to do for them in the future.
While a reliable record may be important, that may not be enough if a candidate can’t make any promises to give voters something they want if said candidate is elected into office.
Since the protest, Sanders has made changes to his campaign.
He appointed a black woman involved in activism named Symone Sanders to be his national press secretary.
This month Bernie Sanders spoke to a crowd of 1,000 people at historically black Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, urging his audience to focus on the issues facing our country.
If our country listens to its people as much as he does, then we might just focus on the issues and fix them too.
ttfitzpa@indiana.edu
