Virtual tie raises doubts: Can Hillary Clinton close the deal?

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Politics | Tue Feb 2, 2016 3:56am EST

Virtual tie raises doubts: Can Hillary Clinton close the deal?

DES MOINES, IOWA | BY JOHN WHITESIDES

Hillary Clinton's struggle in Iowa to fend off underdog Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, reignited questions about her ability to close the deal with Democratic voters and turned up the pressure on her high-profile White House campaign.

The Democratic presidential front-runner, whose campaign ran off the rails in Iowa in 2008 against Barack Obama, was dealt another setback on Monday in the Midwestern state that begins the 2016 race for the presidency.

The former secretary of state, Clinton, 68, was pushed to a virtual tie with Sanders, a 74-year-old U.S. senator from Vermont.

Next up is New Hampshire, which holds its primary on Feb. 9. Sanders has been leading in opinion polls there and has an advantage because it neighbors his home state. A Clinton loss would start to set off alarm bells with her supporters.

"She has had every possible structural and organizational advantage and Sanders fought her to a draw," said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-democrats-idUSKCN0VB0PB

[tk2kewl]

1. Maybe she needs to read Trump's book?

[book_worm]

2. By the same token will Bernie close the deal?

I expect Bernie will do well in NH a neighborning state where he is leading in the polls. "A Clinton loss there would set off alarm bells with her supporters" is pure rubbish since Bernie has been leading in the polls there by a pretty good margin for quite a while.

What would set off alarm bells is if Bernie won or came close to winning in a state like South Carolina. That and other Super Tuesday Southern states plus the big industrial states of NY, NJ, PA, IL, OH & MI are Hillary's firewall. If Bernie wins some of those then Hillary would be in trouble.

But the thing is Bernie has to do do well in some of those states. He needs to demonstrate he can win in a few of those southern states. He needs to demonstrate that he can win a big industrial state like Pennsylvania or Ohio with all of its various demographics. If he does he will have earned the nomination. If he doesn't then Hillary will.

[Bonobo]

3. She had EVERY advantage. This shows her to be a seriously bad candidate.

If she is selected, I really think the Dems might lose this election.

[lunamagica]

4. He had evry asdvantage. The demographics on IA shouls have given him an overwhelming

victory...remember, IA and NH, were 9supposedly) for Sanders

How you think he will do in SC when he couldn't pull a win in IA

[jeff47]

5. Uh, no. Caucuses favor massive ground game and endorsements.

They also skew older, since you have to work "normal" hours in order to participate at all. And the Clinton campaign pulled staffers and money out of everywhere else, to the point of not having staff in super Tuesday states.

And the result is a tie.

[lunamagica]

6. Iowa was tailor made for Sanders. and SHE won.

[jeff47]

7. Again, this is wrong.

It's the basics of how caucuses work. The fact that you do not understand this clearly indicates you haven't thought about this at all.

[lunamagica]

8. Oh, you have proven me right! You have nothing to say, so go for the personal attack

[jeff47]

9. Nah, there's just no point in talking with someone who can only recite talking points.

Little like arguing with a teabagger. You quickly realize that they really don't understand what they are talking about, and can only recite the talking points they have received.

[lunamagica]

10. Oh, go on. I can see how upset you are over IA

Last edited Tue Feb 2, 2016, 01:33 PM - Edit history (1)

I don't blame you. 90+ white, rural...Sander's dream demographics...he should have blown it out of the water. But he couldn't do it.

Now, what to expect in heavily populated, diverse states?

Must be hard for you guys..

[frylock]

13. It is hard for us, and that's why were spinning 6 coin tosses into a decisive victory.

[frylock]

12. White fundy demo favors a non-practicing Jew?

[firebrand80]

11. Why can't Obama close the deal?

Blast from the past: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/23/cafferty-why-can’t-barack-obama-close-the-deal/

I recall this being a prevalent media narrative

[Beacool]

14. Oh please, it's IA.

I would ask that question if it was this close in SC, PA, NY, etc.

[ram2008]

15. Nevada will be interesting thats for sure nt

[Beacool]

16. NV is the one caucus that Hillary won in 2008.

I think that she will prevail this year too. Maybe not by a huge margin, but not as close as IA either.