Bernie Sanders slipped away without shaking hands. His supporters were reduced to making selfies in front of his empty desk, but Ethan Pena, a 23-year-old Texan student, summed up the general enthusiasm by launching to his companions: "Hey guys, we just saw the future president of the United States! "
Mr. Sanders had not waited for the results of the Nevada caucus, which he won hands down on Saturday February 22, to fly to Texas, where he chained four meetings, the last of which was held Sunday evening on the lawns of 'a park in Austin, the state capital.
The eternal opponent, the senator "Socialist" from Vermont, is now here to win. He showed it at the start of the meeting by introducing his wife: "Let me introduce you to the future first lady of the United States. " He concluded his speech 40 minutes later with an appeal: "We will take this primary, beat Trump and transform this country. "
78-year-old Sanders is now a favorite and found it himself "A little stunning " : the site fivethirtyeight, which compiles polls and elections, gave him, Sunday evening, 45% probability of winning the absolute majority of delegates to the Democratic primary – against 9% to former vice-president Joe Biden and 5% to billionaire Michael Bloomberg, while that the probability of having a convention without a majority in July in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) is estimated at 41%.
"Americans are tired of the status quo"
Next decisive step, Super Tuesday, Tuesday March 3, when fourteen states will vote including California and Texas. "If there is a high turnout, we will win Texas", proclaimed Bernie Sanders.
Upon arriving at the meeting, we saw that his supporters were not only young people, students, white people and hipsters. A 58-year-old Texan woman posing as a "hippie cowgirl", two Cameroonians recently naturalized, a soldier once again studying with her family, Latinos, mixed couples with children: the Sanders base has grown. "Bernie will look for people who don't vote or no longer vote", said Adam Hughes, 31, a collaborator with a Texas convention candidate.
Activists believe in victory, even if party officials will try at all costs to block Sanders. "They are going to want to cheat, they are probably cheating already, but there is such a dynamic behind Bernie that they cannot prevent it", says Joanna Howell, who came with her children, who believes that after Donald Trump, the Democratic Party has still not understood the new deal: “Americans are tired of the status quo. "
