Bernie Is Wrong About Why He Is Losing

(This photo of Bernie Sanders is from nbcnews.com.)

From nbcnews.com:

Sen. Bernie Sanders has built his campaign on a message of combating income inequality, but that message doesn't seem to be resonating in many of the states with the country's highest levels of income inequality. 

Of the 25 states with the highest levels, 17 have held primaries so far — and Hillary Clinton has won 16 of those contests. 

When asked why he thinks he's losing in those states, Sanders responded, "Well, because poor people don't vote. I mean, that's just a fact."

Bernie Sanders is just wrong. While it may be a fact that poor people don't vote in as large a percentage as some other demographic groups, many of them do vote. And they vote their conscience, just like other people do.

Sanders seems to have the impression that all poor people would prefer him to be president -- that he is some kind of savior for the poor. That's just nonsense, and more than a bit narcissistic. He does not own the votes of poor Americans. In fact, most Democrats earning less than $50,000 a year support Hillary Clinton (from a recent CNN poll).

The poor are not stupid, and no politician (including Sanders) owns their votes. Most of them know that they would be better off if a Democrat stays in the White House, and they are fully capable of choosing which Democrat that should be.

Sanders doesn't want to admit the real reason that he is losing. It is simply that the huge majority of Democrats prefer Hillary Clinton to be their nominee -- at this time about three million more than for Sanders. That's a huge difference in voters, and it is very likely to grow even larger after the April 26th states have voted. Poor people are not to blame, and Sanders should be ashamed of himself for saying they are.