SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Sanders Did Even Better in Colorado Than Reported, But No One Told Him
Democratic Party officials let Hillary Clinton's campaign know five weeks ago, but kept Sanders in the dark
Apr 12, 2016
Bernie Sanders supporters cheered when their candidate won the Colorado caucuses by a sizeable margin--59 to 40 percentage points--on Super Tuesday last month, reportedly picking up 38 pledged delegates to rival Hillary Clinton's 28.
Now, they have more to celebrate. An apparent "error" on the part of that state's Democratic Party could widen that lead even further, the Denver Post has revealed, which would hand Sanders the Colorado delegation.
The Post reported Tuesday that the Colorado Democratic Party admitted this week to "misreporting" the March 1 caucus results from 10 precinct locations.
Adding to the controversy, the newspaper notes that the mistake "was shared with rival Hillary Clinton's campaign by party officials but kept from Sanders until the Post told his staff Monday night."
The Post reports:
The mistake is a minor shift with major implications. The new projection now shows the Vermont senator winning 39 delegates in Colorado, compared to 27 for Clinton.
Even if Clinton wins all 12 superdelegates in the state, Sanders can finish no worse than a split decision. It contrasts with prior projections from the Post, Bloomberg Politics and The Associated Press that indicated Clinton would probably win the majority of the 78 delegates in Colorado because of her support from party leaders with superdelegate status.
If he lands one Colorado superdelegate -- two are still undecided and others are facing significant pressure -- Sanders could win the state's delegation.
"We are obviously pleased to essentially narrow the delegate lead by two delegates, one up and one down, it's a zero sum game," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told the Post in an interview.
Colorado Democratic Party officials reportedly discovered the error a week or so after the caucus, but did not publicly admit the mistake, nor change the website where it reported caucus results, coloradocaucus.org. The website still featured the incorrect numbers on Tuesday morning.
The Colorado GOP also drew heat on Monday, with Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump saying the way the state party divvies up its delegates is a "dirty system."
Earlier this month, Sanders retroactively narrowed Clinton's delegate lead in Nevada, after winning that state's county-level Democratic conventions.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Bernie Sanders supporters cheered when their candidate won the Colorado caucuses by a sizeable margin--59 to 40 percentage points--on Super Tuesday last month, reportedly picking up 38 pledged delegates to rival Hillary Clinton's 28.
Now, they have more to celebrate. An apparent "error" on the part of that state's Democratic Party could widen that lead even further, the Denver Post has revealed, which would hand Sanders the Colorado delegation.
The Post reported Tuesday that the Colorado Democratic Party admitted this week to "misreporting" the March 1 caucus results from 10 precinct locations.
Adding to the controversy, the newspaper notes that the mistake "was shared with rival Hillary Clinton's campaign by party officials but kept from Sanders until the Post told his staff Monday night."
The Post reports:
The mistake is a minor shift with major implications. The new projection now shows the Vermont senator winning 39 delegates in Colorado, compared to 27 for Clinton.
Even if Clinton wins all 12 superdelegates in the state, Sanders can finish no worse than a split decision. It contrasts with prior projections from the Post, Bloomberg Politics and The Associated Press that indicated Clinton would probably win the majority of the 78 delegates in Colorado because of her support from party leaders with superdelegate status.
If he lands one Colorado superdelegate -- two are still undecided and others are facing significant pressure -- Sanders could win the state's delegation.
"We are obviously pleased to essentially narrow the delegate lead by two delegates, one up and one down, it's a zero sum game," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told the Post in an interview.
Colorado Democratic Party officials reportedly discovered the error a week or so after the caucus, but did not publicly admit the mistake, nor change the website where it reported caucus results, coloradocaucus.org. The website still featured the incorrect numbers on Tuesday morning.
The Colorado GOP also drew heat on Monday, with Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump saying the way the state party divvies up its delegates is a "dirty system."
Earlier this month, Sanders retroactively narrowed Clinton's delegate lead in Nevada, after winning that state's county-level Democratic conventions.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Bernie Sanders supporters cheered when their candidate won the Colorado caucuses by a sizeable margin--59 to 40 percentage points--on Super Tuesday last month, reportedly picking up 38 pledged delegates to rival Hillary Clinton's 28.
Now, they have more to celebrate. An apparent "error" on the part of that state's Democratic Party could widen that lead even further, the Denver Post has revealed, which would hand Sanders the Colorado delegation.
The Post reported Tuesday that the Colorado Democratic Party admitted this week to "misreporting" the March 1 caucus results from 10 precinct locations.
Adding to the controversy, the newspaper notes that the mistake "was shared with rival Hillary Clinton's campaign by party officials but kept from Sanders until the Post told his staff Monday night."
The Post reports:
The mistake is a minor shift with major implications. The new projection now shows the Vermont senator winning 39 delegates in Colorado, compared to 27 for Clinton.
Even if Clinton wins all 12 superdelegates in the state, Sanders can finish no worse than a split decision. It contrasts with prior projections from the Post, Bloomberg Politics and The Associated Press that indicated Clinton would probably win the majority of the 78 delegates in Colorado because of her support from party leaders with superdelegate status.
If he lands one Colorado superdelegate -- two are still undecided and others are facing significant pressure -- Sanders could win the state's delegation.
"We are obviously pleased to essentially narrow the delegate lead by two delegates, one up and one down, it's a zero sum game," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told the Post in an interview.
Colorado Democratic Party officials reportedly discovered the error a week or so after the caucus, but did not publicly admit the mistake, nor change the website where it reported caucus results, coloradocaucus.org. The website still featured the incorrect numbers on Tuesday morning.
The Colorado GOP also drew heat on Monday, with Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump saying the way the state party divvies up its delegates is a "dirty system."
Earlier this month, Sanders retroactively narrowed Clinton's delegate lead in Nevada, after winning that state's county-level Democratic conventions.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.