March 24--Crowds in the tens of thousands have been a hallmark of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign, but the turnout hasn't translated into the primary votes he needs to surge past Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Sanders, who will rally Wednesday night in Los Angeles at the Wiltern Theatre, drew 10,000 supporters in San Diego on Tuesday who came to hear his populist speech peppered with staples of his candidacy: income inequality, free college tuition, the need to overhaul the criminal justice system.
"Together we are going to change the national priorities of this country," he said. "Together we are going to invest in our communities."
But even with fervent support and victories Tuesday in Utah and Idaho, Sanders trails Clinton by about 300 pledged delegates. She crushed him in the day's other contest in Arizona.
Already, Clinton has shifted her focus away from the Vermont senator toward the general election and an anticipated matchup with GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
Sanders has said he intends to fight through California's June 7 primary to the end of the nominating season. With Clinton, he faces an opponent with a long history of campaigning in California, including in 2008 when she rallied women and Latinos in this state to win a primary victory over then-Sen. Barack Obama.
Exit polls have shown Sanders' message resonating with liberal, college-educated white voters and millennials. But when it comes to minorities, Sanders has struggled, losing contests in South Carolina, Ohio and Arizona, where black and Latino voters -- key voting blocs in Democratic primaries -- backed Clinton.
In Arizona, a state with a sizable Latino electorate where Sanders campaigned heavily, he spent about $1.3 million on advertising -- more than double what Clinton spent -- and lost by double digits.
Even as he trails Clinton in delegates, Sanders has remained formidable when it comes to fundraising. In February, he raised $43.5 million compared with $30.1 million for Clinton.
"He has the money, so there really is no incentive to drop out," said Nathan L. Gonzales, a campaign analyst with the nonpartisan Rothenberg Gonzales Political Report. "He's in the twilight of his career, getting attention for issues he's fought for over the years. He has the incentive to stay."
Even some Clinton supporters see no harm in Sanders remaining in the race, providing he directs his fire at Trump and other Republicans as opposed to the Democratic front-runner.
"There will come a point when Democrats need to unify behind the nominee and take on a really tricky threat in Donald Trump," Bill Burton, a Clinton backer who served as deputy White House press secretary in the Obama administration, said of the likely GOP nominee. "But it doesn't have to be right now."
He said Clinton remaining in the 2008 primary until the late spring of that year was a positive for the party headed into the fall, boosting enthusiasm for the presidential contest and helping register new voters.
kurtis.lee@latimes.com
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