Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1210395
13.02.2020 11 ANALYSIS Hampshire Democratic primary gressive freshmen congresswomen gave Sanders an important boost that con- tributed to his New Hampshire victory. 4. The Democratic Party is divided Among the top five candidates in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, Sanders and Warren competed in the progressive lane, together getting just over 35 percent of the vote. Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Biden com- peted for the more moderate vote, and together captured almost 53 percent of the vote. e remaining vote was split between candidates in the back of the pack. Bloomberg – spending record amounts of his multibillion-dollar for- tune on his campaign – wasn't on the ballot in Iowa and New Hampshire but is campaigning and advertising heavily in Super Tuesday states. 5. Old school low-tech voting is best New Hampshire used paper ballots. e primary went off without a hitch and results came in early – quite a con- trast to the failure of new technology used to tabulate votes in the Iowa cau- cuses. Apps and computers can be hacked and break down. at can't happen with good old-fashioned paper ballots. 6. Warren made a mistake picking a fight with Sanders Warren was leading in polls in New Hampshire just a few weeks ago. en she started a feud with Sanders, claim- ing he had told her in private that a female candidate couldn't defeat Presi- dent Trump in the November election – a claim Sanders strongly denied. e feud appears to have cost Warren votes – exactly the opposite effect she likely expected. Warren's poor showing in New Hamp- shire is especially embarrassing for her because her home state of Massachu- setts borders New Hampshire and that should have given her a geographical advantage. Sanders is also from a neigh- boring state – Vermont. 7. Delegates count In the New Hampshire primary, Sand- ers and Buttigieg each picked up nine delegates to the Democratic National Convention, while Klobuchar picked up six. No other Democratic picked up a sin- gle delegate. So while Sanders won slightly more popular votes, the contest was a draw between him and Buttigieg in the del- egate count. 8. There was no surge in voter turnout Polling showed that New Hampshire Democratic voters are angry and want the Democratic Party to nominate a candidate who can defeat President Trump in November. But in Iowa and New Hampshire there wasn't the record turnout for the Dem- ocratic caucuses and primaries that some had forecast. Democrats will need a strong turnout of anti-Trump voters to have a chance of defeating him in the general election. 9. Candidate debates matter With the exception of Bloomberg, who hasn't yet qualified for a presidential candidate debate and wasn't on the bal- lot in Iowa and New Hampshire, candi- dates kept of the debate stage have fared poorly and many dropped out before voting in nominating contests began. e televised debates give the candi- dates valuable exposure and boost their status as serious contenders. Klobuchar had a breakout perfor- mance at the Democratic debate last week and that seems to have been a big factor that helped her vault past Biden and Warren in the New Hampshire pri- mary. 10. Healthcare wins again Healthcare is a winning issue for Democrats. As President Trump and Republicans seek to constantly undo ObamaCare and have no alternative plan, this is an issue that still is strongly resonating with voters. Polling shows that healthcare, fol- lowed by climate change, followed by the desire for a president who can unite our country are the three big concerns of many voters. In New Hampshire, polls show six in 10 voters concerned about health care support a government-sponsored pro- gramme like Medicare-for-all. Pete Buttigieg