Yesterday, Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Bernie Sanders 53% to 47% in the Silver State, to claim her first convincing victory in the Democratic primary. This result may seem to be a setback for Bernie supporters riding on a wave of momentum after his resounding New Hampshire victory. In Nevada, they yearn to witness signs that his message is not an isolated phenomenon, that his message is multi-cultural and multi-racial, that it extends beyond whites and into minority groups. Unfortunately for many of these hopefuls, the higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

However, I believe that such disappointment is altogether too negative. It does not respect the opponent as a savvy and experienced politician, as someone:

  • who has run a presidential campaign before,
  • whose husband is one of the most gifted politicians alive, who has successfully run twice for president,
  • who has the whole DNC political machine at her back,
  • who has the deep pockets of Wall Street and other big money interests financing her operations,
  • who has the respect if not outright support of mainstream media

Yet in New Hampshire, after many weeks of leading by double digits, Hillary Clinton was resoundingly defeated. And then in Nevada, after many months of leading again by double digits, the race unexpectedly tightened again:

The Clinton campaign only narrowly escaped defeat by making last minute adjustments. Rather, than moving on to Florida, the decision was made to continue working Nevada. An All-Star cast campaigned for her. They included:

  • political maestro, Harry Reid, to bolster her ground game and to connect her to local unions and influencers,
  • celebrity babes, Eva Longoria and America Ferrera, to stem attrition within younger female voters and to reach out to Hispanic voters,
  • and local black leaders, to endorse her as trustworthy and sympathetic to black concerns

Indeed, such detailed efforts can only mean that the stakes are much higher on her side. She wants to prove her electability, but the DNC also has its reputation on the line. Some view the DNC on equal footing as the RNC. However, others see it as the backup option for big money interests. Big money interests would donate to either party. This would finance the election of politicians who would advance big money priorities over labor. Voters would be presented with some semblance of a choice, between the candidates, when effectively, they would have little or none.

Most of the time such an arrangement works fine and well. This election cycle however is unusual, due to its cast of characters. On the Democrat side, we have aforementioned, Bernie Sanders, the wild-eyed socialist, who spurns their buyout and opts instead to attack them with his big money taxes and social spending policies. On the Republican side, we have Donald Trump, the megalomaniac, who has his own money and his own grand ideas on how to run things. Trump has been complaining incessantly, on how he has been mistreated by the RNC, despite knocking out quite a few of their prized fighters. Thus, this relationship has soured from the start. The GOP looks more and more to be a runaway train with Trump, whom many deem unelectable, firmly in the driver seat. And this scares away many donors.

Thus, Nevada is the perfect chance for the DNC to make a play to big money, for it to distinguish itself as the more civil and reasonable, of the two platforms. It is a chance to prove that Democratic voters have not gone rogue, that Clinton is in firm control of her base, and that she is still electable. Because of this, all the stops were pulled out. Everything that was possible was done to win. And a disaster was narrowly averted.