Sanders fends off slew of attacks from rivals on Nevada debate stage
John Sadler, political reporter for the Las Vegas Sun, reacts.
Las Vegas Sun reporter John Sadler, citing recent polls, said Thursday that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., remains unscathed amid the pushback by the Culinary Union against the socialist’s "Medicare-for-all" plan.
“The Culinary Union leadership has pushed back fairly hard against 'Medicare-for-all' and single-payer health care in general, but it hasn’t really hurt his [Sanders'] polling numbers coming into the Nevada Caucuses on Saturday,” Sadler told, “America's Newsroom.”
“[Sanders is] still leading the pack,” Sadler said.
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Sanders defended his "democratic socialist" label on Wednesday night at the Democratic debate in Nevada. The progressive senator has been enjoying a surge in the polls in recent weeks, including an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday that showed him with a national double-digit lead – 27 percent of support, which is well ahead of former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who earned just 15 and 14 percent, respectively.
The criticism from the unions, which are dominant forces in the state's two major urban areas of Las Vegas and Reno, have created doubts about Sanders’ ability to carry the momentum his campaign has built following Iowa and New Hampshire into Nevada – and beyond.
Sanders’ biggest challenge so far has been the Culinary Union Local 226, which represents around 60,000 housekeepers, porters, bartenders and other workers in Las Vegas’ casinos.
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Sadler continued, “It stands to see if the culinary leadership’s position on 'Medicare-for-all' is shared by their members. Anecdotally, I’ve seen events that Sanders has held with union members, and members have given cheers and boos, so we’ll just have to see,” Sadler said.
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.
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