Viva Las Vegas?

Well - that was a shock!

Bernie Sanders won nearly half of the vote in the Nevada caucuses.  The good news for Joe Biden was that he came in second.  The bad news is that he came in a very distant second.  It was like when an American yacht won what became the America's Cup for the first time in 1851, and Queen Victoria, watching at the finish line, asked who was second, with someone telling her, "Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second."

Sanders won fair and square, forging a multi-racial and multi-generational coalition that showed greater strength than pundits previously realized.  He has proven that, despite his controversial policy proposals, he is more than willing and able to take on Donald Trump in November.  Maybe.

It's not over yet.  Michael Bloomberg may have stumbled badly in his first debate, but he has another chance tomorrow in the CBS debate ahead of the South Carolina primary on February 29, and he isn't even on the ballot until Super Tuesday on March 3.  Also, Biden could jump-start his faltering campaign with a decisive win in South Carolina, which is still possible.

(One thing that is not possible: Elizabeth Warren regaining her favorite-aunt image.  I noted that in the debate last week, she came across as the nasty aunt who says your model train set is a piece of junk and then says she's kidding - a real-life moment of mine by the way - but since she started making fun of Bloomberg's height, she comes across as something worse than a nasty aunt.  She's now like a mother-in-law.)   

One caveat to those who want to stop Sanders; the opera may not be over, but the fat lady is warming up.  I still have my doubts about Sanders as the Democratic nominee, but I have a lot of friends who think he can win.  At this point, I have only one thing to say in response to that and I'll say it again and again and again until November if Sanders wins the Democratic presidential nomination:

You'd better be right about this!