Sanders Is Staying Calm Despite The Challenge

Super Tuesday 2 quite possibly shares the same kind of anticipation that comes with any Hollywood movie sequel — it's almost universally understood that it just won't top the first go. But Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders was likely just as anxious to see what March 8 had in store for him as he was for the results of elections which took place a week earlier. Having been awarded less than half of the delegates of opposing candidate Hillary Clinton that day, Sanders undoubtedly needed Democratic voters in Michigan and Mississippi on his side this time around. But the Vermont senator put on his "calm, cool, collected" face, busying himself at a campaign rally in Miami minutes before the first results of the evening were expected to come in. And Bernie Sanders' Super Tuesday 2 speech was no different, with the White House hopeful focusing on the momentum created in Michigan, as opposed to a win or loss.

Sanders' prospects were far from promising ahead of Tuesday's elections in the two "M" states. Even an upset win for the senator in Michigan, where more than 100 delegates were up for grabs, likely meant that he would still fall further behind in the delegate count, according to projections based on state polling. Officials called a landslide victory for Clinton in Mississippi, who took more than 80 percent of the vote fairly quickly. The Sanders 2016 team was well aware of all this.

So in a speedy speech, made outside a Miami hotel on Tuesday evening, Sanders focused on the fact that everyone had been prepared for a close race in Michigan, and how, since the Midwestern state doles out its delegates proportionally, he fully expected to be awarded a good share of the available delegates. "Whether we win or lose here tonight in Michigan, basically the delegates here are gonna be split up," he said.

Though a victor had not yet been announced in the state, Sanders told viewers to look ahead to the places yet to head to the polls. The candidate encouraged his supporters to take the momentum fostered by a great night in Michigan and carry it into the upcoming primaries in states like Ohio and Florida. Sanders also brought the West Coast into the conversation, pointing out that primaries hadn't even hit this region, where he believes he can pick up a lot of votes.

"Frankly, we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen," Sanders stated. "We're going to do very, very well on the West Coast and other parts of this country."

Sanders may not be seeing many overwhelming victories so far this primary season, but save for any embarrassingly large losses, the senator is merely riding the wave that will take him to the Democratic National Convention.