There are nine southern states that will vote in March and where Clinton should be heavily favored -- assuming she is able to retain her large lead among black voters. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas will vote on March 1. Louisiana will vote on March 5, Mississippi on March 8, and Florida and North Carolina on March 15. Three more states -- Oklahoma (March 1), Virginia (March 1) and Missouri (March 15) -- should lean toward Clinton, demographically speaking.
Give Clinton, at a minimum, 10 wins in March -- including big, delegate-rich states such as Florida, North Carolina and Texas -- and you begin to grasp the daunting nature of Sanders surviving the month as a viable candidate.
Vermont seems like a no-brainer. Massachusetts should be another place where Sanders runs well -- although Clinton did beat Barack Obama in the state's primary in 2008. Colorado and Minnesota are caucus states -- more on that in a minute -- where Sanders's grass-roots strength will be a major asset. Michigan (March 8), Illinois (March 15) and Ohio (March 15) feel like a bit bigger stretches for Sanders, although I can see Devine's logic: Big-population states with not massive minority votes. And winning a big state such as Michigan, Illinois or Ohio matters from both a perception and a delegate perspective for Sanders.
But the key for Sanders to survive March almost certainly lies in his ability to win (and win convincingly) in the 10 states that hold caucuses in March. Colorado and Minnesota will hold caucuses on March 1 but the rest of the month's calendar is chock-a-block with other caucus votes: Kansas (March 5), Nebraska (March 5), Maine (March 6) Idaho (March 22), Utah (March 22), Alaska (March 26), Hawaii (March 26) and Washington state (March 26).