The trip underscores both Sanders’s confidence that he’ll still be running strong after New Hampshire and the importance of African-American voters if Sanders is going to be competitive with Clinton over the long haul.
The rally, on Martin Luther King Day, is being billed as an opportunity for Sanders to discuss the legacy of the civil rights leader and “the ongoing fight for racial justice.” Sanders will be joined by two of his most visible African American supporters: the academic Cornel West and Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator with a national reputation in Democratic politics.
“We are running a national campaign,” said Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver when asked about the timing of the rally. “We anticipate that there will absolutely be a very active contest after the first two states.”
Alabama is among about a dozen states that hold Democratic caucuses or primaries on March 1, the day known as Super Tuesday. If Sanders upsets Clinton and Iowa and wins in New Hampshire, it could become a pivotal day in the nomination fight.
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Tad Devine, a longtime Democratic operative and leading Sanders adviser, said the Birmingham rally is “an opportunity for [Sanders] on Dr. King’s birthday to showcase a cause that’s been a central part of the work of his life. It’s a national stage on a national holiday.”