Bernie Sanders. (photo: Arun Chaudhary)
BC,
CBS, NBC and FOX won’t tell you this. In fact, MSNBC had a headline,
hours after news came out that Bernie Sanders had moved ahead in Iowa,
that Trump and Clinton maintained frontrunner status nationally. Their
headline was based on a 15-point national lead for Clinton. The article
neglected to say that leads in Iowa and New Hampshire carry more weight
than these national polls that are polling people who have not fully
tuned into the election and are not as committed to any candidate yet.The bigger news was Sanders taking a 5-point lead in Iowa while maintaining a 14-point lead in New Hampshire. Sanders also received the endorsement of a very important constituency in the Democratic party, the liberal advocacy group Moveon.org. I know I just said that national polls are not as important at this stage in the game, but that being said, a respected poll by IBT/TMSS found Sanders within 4 points of Hillary nationally. While I give national polls less credibility at this point, the poll is consistent with all the other signs of momentum for Sanders.
As I lie here in the hospital in Des Moines, I am frustrated to be missing the stretch run in Iowa, but I can feel the Sanders momentum as new polls come in. Here are just a few of those polls.
The big one is from Quinnipiac, which shows Bernie up 5 points.
The Iowa Democratic Caucus is going down to the wire as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wins the support of 49 percent of likely Democratic Caucus participants, with 44 percent for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and 4 percent for former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This compares to the results of a December 15 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University showing Clinton at 51 percent, with 40 percent for Sanders.
And then there is this:
With just 21 days until the presidential primaries officially begin in Iowa, Hillary Clinton's support among Democrats nationally has taken a serious tumble, falling eight points to 43%, according to the latest IBD/TIPP Poll. Support for her chief rival, Bernie Sanders, rose six points to 39%.
As a result, Clinton’s lead over Sanders, which had been 18 points, is now just four points.
In another development that has to worry the Clinton
camp, establishment Democrats like the Vice President seem to be warming
to Sanders:
Vice President Joe Biden offered effusive praise for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders Monday, lauding Hillary Clinton's chief rival for doing a “heck of a job” on the campaign trail and praising Sanders for offering an authentic voice on income inequality.
And while Biden said Democrats had a slate of “great candidates” running for president, he suggested Clinton was a newcomer to issues like the growing gap between rich and poor.
While the mainstream ... hmm, I think this election will prove we are
the mainstream, so let’s re-phrase that: While the corporate media
wants you to still believe that Hillary Clinton is the frontrunner for
the Democratic nomination for president, evidence shows the opposite.
Bernie Sanders is the clear frontrunner and has the momentum to be our
next president.
Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where
he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain
archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment
movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace
and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of
Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian,
and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural
events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be
spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.
Comments
+77
#
2016-01-13 14:15
HRC is getting schooled, again, on running as the presumptive empress-in-wait ing,
friend of Banksters & neo-CON hawks, war mongers, war profiteers.
Biden expressing frustration of Dems who once believed in her. These are
NOT feminist positions. With GOPers going around the bend to the far
right, Dems can afford to be democrats again.
+48
#
2016-01-13 15:54
Not only is Hillary
getting schooled about being the "presumptive" candidate, so is the
entire Dem. Party structure. Wasserman-Schul tz
may be jumping out of her skin watching Bernie's polling stats. I'd
like to think that both parties are learning hard lessons here; Reps.
are seeing their philosophies and policies coming to perfect fruition in
Trump's demagoguery, while the Dem. Party is learning that they need to
support ALL their candidates until the primaries show who the public
really support. Granted, Bernie hasn't won anything yet, he has at least
surprised the Dem. powers-that-be to their cores.
+28
#
2016-01-13 16:59
So sad but true, Shades of gray matter. Time it is for us/U.S. to wake up to the reality, that unlike Hillary Clinton.....
SANDERS PANDERS NOT, TO THE 1%
SANDERS PANDERS NOT, TO THE 1%
+59
#
2016-01-13 14:30
There is an Axis of
Chicago-NY-DC BIG MONEY that Slick Willy, Obama, & Hillary have
fallen prey to. Willy wonk should know by now that going negative on
lovable Bernie is not the answer. GOPers and voters are willing to let
Democrats be democrats, not Klyntonites. NOW is the time. All Dems: Do
Not Blow This Opportunity. Try to keep up.
+44
#
2016-01-13 15:01
News is good. Bernie
has a solid chance for both primary and general. To govern, he'll need
Congressional support, of course. The Trump phenomenon (as distinct from
the actual abhorrent Donald) is a positive development for Bernie.
Working class whites, a natural Bernie constituency, are being peeled
off from the country club / wall street republican mainstream and will
need a place to go. Progressives need to find them by running viable
candidates in as many districts as possible.
+47
#
2016-01-13 15:28
Just as in a
professional sporting contest, I feel momentum shifting, and Bernie
gaining strength. I will be sending him another installment of cash.
Go Bernie!
Go Bernie!
+16
#
2016-01-13 20:26
Every month I get my
US Social Security deposited into my credit union checking account, and I
send $40 of it to Bernie. Go Bernie!
+8
#
2016-01-14 00:57
I am also on SSI,
disability. And I make a contribution to the Bernie Sanders for
President campaign on the first of every month. I consider it an
investment in my future, an investment in the future of this country,
and an investment in the future of the world.
+62
#
2016-01-13 15:31
PS -- as a lifelong
progressive Democrat, I find the Clinton campaign's attack on Bernie's
single payer health care proposal very unseemly.
+37
#
2016-01-13 16:06
Especially since it's now Chelsea who's taken that on.
The 3 of them can't keep up with Bernie and he's the one with the day job!
The 3 of them can't keep up with Bernie and he's the one with the day job!
