Sanders praises Cuba
By singing the praises of aspects of Cuba's communist regime during a prime-time interview Sunday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders pulled off the unimaginable: uniting Republicans and Democrats in the notoriously divided swing state of Florida.
That unlikely union springs from long-standing fears of socialism in the Sunshine State, home to so many exiled Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans who fled socialist regimes in their home countries and make up an ever-growing size of the electorate in Florida.
Sanders has long voiced his support for the nationwide health care and educational achievements of Cuba under Fidel Castro. Polls have shown that he could beat President Donald Trump in Florida if he became the Democratic nominee. But by expressing support for Cuba's literacy programs during an interview on "60 Minutes," Sanders may have cost himself the chance to win Florida's primary March 17 in his quest to become the nominee.
"He stepped on a mine," said Ricardo Herrero, the Cuban American executive director of the Cuba Study Group, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington. "To many people in Miami, that's like saying, 'Not everything Hitler did was bad, he also created the Autobahn,' " said Herrero.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/02/24/sanders-support-cuba-policies-may-sink-his-chances-florida/4856649002/