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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUSA Today: Iowa activists welcome Bernie Sanders to race
Last edited Fri May 1, 2015, 10:01 AM - Edit history (1)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. arrives at a town hall meeting on Dec. 16, 2014, in Ames, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall, AP)
http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/04/30/bernie-sanders-iowa/
By Jennifer Jacobs 16 hours ago
On one recent Iowa visit, Bernie Sanders showed hes the kind of presidential contender whos perfectly comfortable speaking at a podium thats actually an overturned milk crate on a tabletop.
Sanders, a no-frills man of the people, will be welcome in the presidential race because hes so sincere about his ideas for making working-class Americans lives better, some Iowa Democratic activists said Thursday. Its possible the Vermont second-term U.S. senator can become a real contender here and peel away votes from frontrunner Hillary Clinton if he can explain himself to enough voters, they said.
Instead of dwelling on Canadian birth certificates and pants suits, Sanders gets to the heart of problems that bog down the national economy, said Ken Sagar, president of the Iowa AFL-CIO.
All the labeling about, Oh, hes a left-wing person if you just set that aside for a second and listen to him talk about the issues, a lot of the stuff he talks about is pretty important, Sagar told The Des Moines Register Thursday morning. If youre a Republican, you have kids who have student loan debt, too. If youre an independent, youre worried about retirement, too.
FULL story at link.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)This is going to be a fun campaign.
rurallib
(62,416 posts)imagine a campaign with issues at the center? Not sure if I can remember such a thing.
We will be at the caucuses. As of now we lean Sanders.
When was the last time that issues were at the center of the presidential campaign? The 1960's? Maybe the early 1970's.
I love seeing him just push aside all of the bullshit media narcissism and just go right to the straight talk on important issues that impact all of us, no matter what our party affiliation.
rurallib
(62,416 posts)his positions are for all citizens.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I like to avoid media bias.
rurallib
(62,416 posts)most likely I will chair my precinct, so will have no idea what else is going on anywhere else.
Duval
(4,280 posts)Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)dotymed
(5,610 posts)I didn't read anything in this op about any "activists." Just average people...
progressoid
(49,990 posts)Wonder if choosing that word was done deliberately to make him seem like a fringe candidate, or if the writer is just an idiot.
dotymed
(5,610 posts)CoffeeCat
(24,411 posts)Remember the 2008 primary when Hillary was "inevitable."?
She sauntered into Iowa as if our state was a formality that she just needed to endure on her way to New Hampshire.
Surprise!
Iowans take their "first in the nation" status seriously. We demand to know these candidates, speak to them, ask
them tough questions and get in their faces. We're polite, but we are serious about our duties.
Bernie could do very well here, and Iowa could give him some momentum from the get-go.
Hillary came in 3rd in the 2008 primary caucuses. Obama, of course won all 99 counties in Iowa. We took a look at him, listened to him and we liked what we saw and heard. If Bernie does a good job of communicating, he could actually surprise some people.
Most Progressives in Iowa are unhappy with Hillary. Our state is still a bit sour from her last rounds here, where she was inaccessible, cold and mainly gave empty, canned speeches with little dialog. She even rigged a "town-hall" meeting. She was supposed to take questions from the audience, but it was discovered that all of the questioners were her staffers who were asking her pre-rehearsed and planted questions. The story made the Des Moines Register. We didn't exactly appreciate that.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if Bernie had a very strong showing in Iowa.