Can Bernie Sanders Catch Hillary Clinton?

In the Democratic race for president, it's hard to deny that Bernie Sanders has the momentum.

He has won the past seven primary contests against Hillary Clinton, he's out-raising her by millions and polls show he is closing the gap in New York, the state where Clinton lives and served as United States senator.

Massachusetts Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a Sanders supporter, says that a win or near-win in New York could send a critical signal to Clinton's lukewarm supporters and superdelegates that it may be time to change their minds.

But a bucket of ice was thrown on Sanders' winning streak this week in the form of a wide-ranging interview with the New York Daily News where Sanders was caught seemingly unprepared to answer questions about some of his key proposals including how he plans to break up the big banks in the first year of his administration.

"How you go about doing it is having legislation passed, or giving the authority to the Secretary of the Treasury to determine, under Dodd-Frank, that these banks are a danger to the economy over the problem of too-big-to-fail," Sanders said.

The Daily News asked whether the Fed has that authority right now.

"I don't know if the Fed has it," he replied. "But I think the administration can have it."

"I think he hadn't done his homework and he has been talking for more than a year about doing things that he obviously hadn't studied or understood," said Clinton of the interview. "That raises a lot of questions."

Jesse Mermell, a Clinton supporter, says she fears the interview exposed Sanders as not being more than a inch deep on his most passionate

And she points out that Clinton also has a huge delegate lead over Sanders and is looking ahead to a series of states that cater to her strengths.

But what will be the fallout for Clinton if Sanders makes a strong showing in New York?

"It would have to be a massive turnaround," Mermell said. "He couldn't just win New York. He'd have to slaughter her."

New York is the next big primary to watch - coming up on April 19.

Contact Us