Bernie had a massive night in Nevada, with a diverse nomination-winning-type coalition.
According to the entrance poll, he won whites and Hispanics and did well among blacks. He won men and women. He won college graduates and did particularly well with non-college graduates. He won Democrats and independents. He won liberals and somewhat liberals and tied with Biden among moderates/conservatives. He won union voters and non-union voters.
His result in a multi-candidate field is comparable to his result in a one-on-one race in 2016:
Lots of attention paid to Sanders getting 26% in NH after hitting 60% there in his one-on-one race with Clinton in ‘16. So worth noting that with 1/4 counted, he’s at 47% in NV after getting 46% in ‘16.
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) February 23, 2020
This is a hugely impressive win.
The other story of the night is Biden showing a pulse. He won blacks, voters over 65, and voters who oppose single-payer health care, and he tied among moderates/conservatives. He’s still in the hunt to win South Carolina and become the (quite weak, presumably) alternative to Sanders. Although Bloomberg is waiting in the wings to dent Biden should he get any momentum. And it’s entirely conceivable that it is Sanders who wins South Carolina in a week, and an out-of-the-gate 4-4 (or 3-4 depending how you count Iowa) looks ready to sweep all before him.