Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Bernie Sanders warns of 'nightmare scenario' if Trump refuses election results Harris joins women's voter mobilization event also featuring Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda MORE (I-Vt.) needs to step up his spending to broaden his appeal if he wants to have a shot at the presidential nomination, Democratic strategists say.

With strong fundraising figures and increased visibility from last week’s Democratic debate creating a crescendo of positive energy for the campaign, strategists say he needs to capitalize by expanding his push for delegates beyond Iowa and New Hampshire if he wants a good shot at surpassing front-runner Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Senate GOP sees early Supreme Court vote as political booster shot Poll: 51 percent of voters want to abolish the electoral college MORE.

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Looking outside of Iowa and New Hampshire to “continue the momentum coming out of the first two states is going to be critical,” said a Democratic strategist with experience on previous presidential campaigns.

“The grassroots support has gotten him to this point, but this is the inflection point.”

Sanders has already seen success in those states, which hold the first nominating contests in early 2016. His campaign told The Hill he has about 55 staffers in Iowa, and CNN reported earlier this month that he has more than 40 in New Hampshire.

That has translated into massive gains at the polls. After trailing in New Hampshire until August, the Vermont senator has since led Clinton in all but one poll. And in Iowa, Clinton’s once regular 30 and 40 percentage-point leads have been slashed, now nearing single digits.

Clinton’s spending rate has attracted a lot of attention; the campaign used almost 90 percent of what it raised in the third quarter. Sanders, by comparison, spent 45 percent of what his campaign raised over the same time, more than double his rate the previous quarter.

Sanders also shocked many with a $26 million third-quarter fundraising total that brought his cash on hand to just a few million dollars less than Clinton’s.

But Clinton is building a massive operation likely to dwarf Sanders no matter how much he spends. Last quarter, Clinton paid out almost $9 million in payroll and payroll taxes to her staff, compared to about $1.4 million for the Sanders campaign.

Symone Sanders, the campaign’s national press secretary — no relation to the candidate — told The Hill that the campaign plans to roll out a larger Nevada staff soon, as well as paid staffers on the ground in all of the Super Tuesday nominating states on March 1.

“We know we need Iowa and New Hampshire in order to be able to get to play bigger in South Carolina, to get to play bigger in Nevada and of course to get to March 1,” she said.

“But we are not neglecting the fact that we have to put resources into South Carolina and Nevada now. We can’t wait until after we feel Iowa and New Hampshire are, quote-unquote, ‘good.’ ”

She noted that the campaign has already made investments in the Palmetto State, specifically, as well as others. It has four aides on the ground, as well as field organizers and what Sanders referred to as a “massive” canvassing operation.

But Sanders still has a ways to go deeper into the calendar. He trails Clinton by significant margins in most other primary states, in no small part due to his little support from minority voters, who make up larger concentrations of the Democratic electorate outside of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Strategists agree that Sanders needs to put a substantial portion of his newfound fortune toward reaching out to minority communities in primary states including South Carolina.

An early October Fox News poll found Clinton with support from 50 percent of national nonwhite Democratic primary voters, and Sanders with 18 percent. In South Carolina, his deficit among black voters is stark: He had support from just 4 percent of blacks in an October CNN poll.

“He’s got to start using paid communications to deliver his message to African-American and Hispanic voters in Nevada and South Carolina,” Democratic strategist Doug Thornell said.

“That’s not just TV. It can be radio, mail, through digital media. It can be through canvassing. But he’s got to start breaking through with those communities to have any shot at winning the nomination.”

Symone Sanders emphasized the campaign’s perception that South Carolina is wide-open, noting a CNN/ORC poll from earlier this month that showed 65 percent of likely Democratic primary voters in South Carolina are still deciding whom to support and only 21 percent have “definitely decided.”

“Young people, women, African-Americans, Latinos — they are important parts of this political revolution, and we recognize that we need them,” she said. The campaign is doing polling for media placement and will begin airing ads soon, she added, but for now it is relying on a “robust” online team and radio ads to reach out to minority voters.

Noting Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonChelsea Clinton: Trump isn't building public confidence in a vaccine Hillary Clinton launching podcast this month GOP brushes back charges of hypocrisy in Supreme Court fight MORE’s popularity both in South Carolina and more broadly with the African-American community — a group that made up more than half of the state’s Democratic primary electorate in 2008 — Symone Sanders pushed back against the notion that the former secretary of State has a Southern “firewall.”

“About 65 percent of South Carolinians are liable to go either way, we think that’s a really important number,” she said.

“This perceived firewall is about to encounter a prairie fire in South Carolina.”

The influx of money and support gives the campaign that option. Symone Sanders said the campaign always expected it would raise the $40 million it believed it needed to be competitive, but she admitted the pace has still been surprising.

“We didn’t think we’d get there this quickly, but that goes to show the issues that the senator is speaking to are issues that are important to the American people so much so that they want to put their hard-earned money towards the cause,” she said.

“We’ll have the financial strength to fight all the way to the convention; that’s very evident at this point. We have the money to be strong on the air. We are in a good position to do that now, thanks again to the American people.”