Georgia, Super Tuesday does not clarify Democratic race

Georgia, Super Tuesday does not clarify Democratic race

By Samuel Rusch, Kennesaw State University

KENNESAW, Ga. - On Super Tuesday, also known as the SEC Primary, Georgia joined eleven other states at the polls on March 1 to select their presidential candidates. Voters in Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and The North Marianas Islands will cast their votes on Tuesday, March 15.

After reviewing the SEC Primary, Zach McDowell, 19, President of Kennesaw State University for Bernie Sanders, expressed disappointment as well as optimism for Sanders’ campaign.

“I can’t say it didn’t sting a little bit just because of all the work we have put in here in Kennesaw and the things I’ve done through the campaign office while I was here,” McDowell said. “The fact that we won four states is amazing, considering where we were a year ago. We were down sixty points nationally. We weren’t relevant in any state at all.”

Professor of Political Science at Kennesaw State University, Dr. Andrew Pieper, 39, said that politics are brutal.

“Democrats have varying rates of approval in the South,” Dr. Pieper said, “even if Sanders wins this state [Wisconsin], he probably won’t achieve greater numbers in this category.”

Pieper believes that Sanders will continue to face difficulties in gaining popularity among black voters.

“Addressing issues that the black and African-American communities face is something that is clearly against how he operates,” Dr. Pieper said referring to Sanders’ campaign rhetoric.

African-American vote or no, McDowell says that Sanders will make it to the general election.

“I will always reaffirm that no matter what happens to Bernie Sanders he will make it to the general election,” McDowell said. “It’s just a question of how and when that decision will be made.”

When asked about Sen. Sander’s performance in the south, McDowell said that he could perform well against a Republican in the region.

“Head-to-head with the Republican candidate, I have no worry about him doing well in the South,” McDowell said. “Once you force the hand of Republicans and Democrats into voting, are you going to vote for Sanders, or for Trump, Cruz or Rubio? I think that decision is a lot easier than what a lot of people are being faced with [between] Bernie or Hillary.”

The presidential race will continue to be unsatisfactory for McDowell if Sen. Sanders does not win the Democratic nomination.

“With the general, I can only say what I’m going to do,” McDowell said. “I’m not going to tell anyone else what to do. I’ll either write Bernie’s name in on the ballot or I won’t vote. I will not be voting for Hillary Clinton if she’s the nominee because, to me, she’s the extenuation of establishment politics and that’s not going to cut it.”

McDowell and Dr. Pieper share similar opinions toward superdelegates.

“I almost don’t count superdelegates,” Dr. Pieper said. “The superdelegates will do precisely what they did in 2008. If someone secures the majority of the other delegates, then they’re going to vote that way because it would be a break in the Democratic Party if they overturned the will of the voters.”

McDowell thinks that the superdelegates pledged to Clinton will soon shift to favor Sen. Sanders.

“The superdelegates have had their allegiances pledged for over a year now,” McDowell said. “Hillary had 400 delegates pledged a year ago; before the campaign even officially started. But they’re changing. Don’t let anyone tell you that the campaign is over because she has all the superdelegates. They can change their vote any time. Here in Georgia, State Senator Vincent Fort has already changed his stance. He is the example that many superdelegates are going to follow.”

The Benghazi scandal is likely to follow Clinton into the general election if she wins the Democratic nomination.

“Objectively, it’s a non-issue,” Dr. Pieper said. “I think most of it is made up. Regarding her emails, she did what she did before it was classified, but it’s still a political issue. It feeds into a narrative that kind of already existed. She’s untrustworthy and she’ll do anything to get elected.”

Tyler Gonzales, 25, supports Clinton and is fearful of Trump winning the election. Gonzales is a first time voter who is drawn to the Democratic Party because of what they stand for; “equality.”

"One side of my family is Mexican,” Gonzales said. “Trump’s bigoted remarks really woke me up to my laziness in regards to pursuing political representation that looks out for me and my family."

Dr. Pieper said that Sen. Sanders’ biggest vulnerability could be his stance as a Democratic Socialist.

“Sanders is pretty much your typical European liberal,” Dr. Pieper said. “Hillary has been called a socialist, and so has Bill; Obama too. Socialism is a really bad word in this country. It’s so strong that people don’t think about it and say it’s easy to use.”

With many voters criticizing Sanders for being a socialist, Dr. Pieper offers his opinion.

“The reason socialism has such a bad connotation is because it’s about the Cold War and communism and Bernie Sanders is not a communist by any stretch of the imagination,” Dr. Pieper said.

McDowell ended on a positive note.

“There are people all over the country, people slightly older than me, running for local and state office,” McDowell said. “Going forward, I would say to Bernie’s credit, and to his campaign’s credit, that he really has started a political revolution.”