Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign has always known that it needs to play catch-up with black voters if it's going to win the Democratic primary. South Carolina was Sanders's first big chance to show he could make inroads with this group, and it looks like he completely and utterly failed.
That is, needless to say, very bad news for Sanders. And if he can't change those numbers, it's going to be a huge problem for him throughout the South as well as in several Northern states like Maryland, Delaware, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey.
But beyond the primary math, it raises a kind of conceptual issue about Sanders's political theory: Given the centrality of African-American voters to the Democratic Party, it's hard to envision a left-wing political revolution taking place in the United States that they have so little enthusiasm for.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via