RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And the race for president rolls on. On the Democratic side, Michigan is the next big prize. NPR's Tamara Keith reports on how Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton spent the day after Super Tuesday.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: For Clinton, it was a day of celebration. She took what you might call a victory lap in New York City.
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HILLARY CLINTON: Wow, it is so good to be home. I'm so happy to be here.
KEITH: There Clinton was greeted by thousands of supporters.
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CLINTON: We set this event for the day after Super Tuesday, and boy am I glad it worked out so well.
KEITH: Then in the evening, another 6,000 people bought tickets and filled Radio City Music Hall to see Hillary Clinton, Andra Day, Elton John and Katy Perry.
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KATY PERRY: (Singing) Because I am a champion, and you're going to hear me roar.
KEITH: The campaign didn't release exact figures, but the concert fundraiser likely brought in several million dollars for Clinton's campaign and the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders flew to Maine and Michigan, hoping to secure wins. He spoke to a packed basketball arena at Michigan State University.
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BERNIE SANDERS: The great state of Michigan can play a profound role in transforming America in helping us to go forward in the political revolution. But it will not happen unless we win the primary here. So please come out and vote.
KEITH: Earlier in the day, top advisers made it clear just how important that primary is to his candidacy. Sanders' greatest challenge on Tuesday was black voters. All across the South, they supported Clinton by stunning margins. But Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver said Michigan could be different.
JEFF WEAVER: It's pretty clear that the African-American community is not monolithic. And I think, you know, the experiences of communities in places like Michigan I think will perhaps make Bernie's message of - on economics, you know, much more powerful and resonant message.
KEITH: For example, last night, the senator hit Clinton for her support of the North American Free Trade Agreement during her husband's presidency.
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SANDERS: In fact, over the last 15 years, the great state of Michigan has lost one-third of its manufacturing jobs.
Now, not all of that is attributable to trade. Companies go under for a number of reasons. But a lot of it is.
KEITH: It's a message Michigan voters are going to be hearing a lot of from Sanders. His campaign just went up with this ad.
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UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Now he's opposing the Trans-Pacific trade deal while others waffle.
KEITH: Clinton worked on the Trans-Pacific Partnership as secretary of state in the Obama administration but opposed it as a candidate once the final details were settled. Sanders has been hitting her on this for months in speeches and at debates. But as the race turns to Michigan, his campaign advisers say they think it could help drive a wedge between Clinton and African-American voters. Clinton isn't about to cede this territory to Sanders. And at her rally in New York, she gave a hint of what she'll be saying when she campaigns in Michigan at the end of this week.
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CLINTON: I'm heading to Detroit to talk about my plan to create jobs across our country. Don't let anybody ever tell you we can't make things in America anymore. We can, we are and we will.
KEITH: And while Sanders is going after Clinton hard in his stump speech, he is now completely absent from hers. There wasn't a single mention of Sanders. The candidates meet in Flint, Mich., on Sunday for a televised debate. Tamara Keith, NPR News, New York. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
