Why Bernie Sanders Stood Out at the Iowa State Fair

[brooklynite]

New York Times

DES MOINES — Bernie Sanders examined the butter cow. He power-walked by the Ferris wheel. He gobbled a corn dog.

He spoke to almost no one.

Most presidential candidates use the 10-day Iowa State Fair to showcase their retail campaigning skills, because it is one of the best opportunities to meet a wide cross-section of voters before the caucuses in February. Mr. Sanders’s approach to the event on Sunday — stride briskly, wave occasionally, converse infrequently — underscored how he has grounded his campaign in championing ideas rather than establishing human connections.

His lectern-pounding, impersonal campaign style served him well during his first presidential run, especially here in Iowa, where his near-victory in the caucuses against Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of State, transformed him into a threat for the Democratic nomination.

Yet even as his campaign seeks to project its strength in early primary states, there are signs — in Iowa polls, conversations with local officials and discussions with dozens of voters — suggesting that Mr. Sanders, 77, may be struggling to gain traction in the state that fueled his political rise.

[Autumn]

1. Sydney Ember

https://heavy.com/news/2019/08/bernie-sanders-iowa-state-fair/

[lapucelle]

2. The work of Stephanie Dube DWilson at your news source.

https://heavy.com/author/dube/

[lapucelle]

4. The work of the OP's source at the New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/by/sydney-ember

[Autumn]

5. Pictures don't lie. But Ember does. nt

[lapucelle]

8. There are no photos of BS interacting with people at your link.

Posing for a meat on a stick photo op or standing in front of a group of people (after aides have cleared anyone in front of you) so a picture can be taken aren't pictures of BS interacting.

There is some truth, however, in the claim that pictures don't lie.

[Autumn]

9. Yeah a lot of interaction at your photo. Not.

Candidates sitting on stage aren't going to show a lot of interaction with the crowd. Done here, the pictures showed Ember lied. Not going to argue that nonsense.

[lapucelle]

10. You're calling a NYT reporter who is on the ground in Iowa a liar,

and you're doing it based on pictures at Heavy that show BS speaking at a podium, posing with meat on a stick, and standing in front of group of people?

[lapucelle]

14. BS is also not interacting with his colleagues.

From the Des Moines Register:

Sanders drew hordes around him as he walked the fairgrounds and, unlike other candidates, generally did not stop to talk to people.

He also did not take questions from the Soapbox crowd, as did most of the other candidates. But his fervent fans, some of whom were asked by staffers to give the candidate distance, did not mind chanting, "Bernie, Bernie, Bernie," when they spotted him.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/08/12/iowa-politics-presidential-candidates-2020-style-contrast-caucus-sanders-warren-harris-buttigieg/1992336001/

[lapucelle]

16. Biden listened to every other candidate's Wing Ding speeches standing

with the people in the crowd rather than of sitting in the candidate's section while he waited for his turn to speak.

[SidDithers]

13. One of these things is not like the others...

Sid

[lapucelle]

15. ,,,

[Uncle Joe]

3. Those are some nice pics.

[Autumn]

6. Yes they are. Bernie. Not alone. Bernie. Speaking to people.

Bernie. Energetic crowd.

[mcar]

11. heavy.com?

[lunasun]

7. Sanders & Warren had the largest crowds at the fair soapbox per the Des Moines Register

She started in Council Bluffs and capped her public schedule at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the State Fair, where she spoke to one of the largest crowds to gather for the 22 candidates so far.
Her crowd was matched only by the one assembled for Bernie Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/08/12/iowa-politics-presidential-candidates-2020-style-contrast-caucus-sanders-warren-harris-buttigieg/1992336001/
This is local IA news reporting

[lapucelle]

12. The Des Moines Register also noted BS's lack of interaction with people

Sanders drew hordes around him as he walked the fairgrounds and, unlike other candidates, generally did not stop to talk to people.

He also did not take questions from the Soapbox crowd, as did most of the other candidates. But his fervent fans, some of whom were asked by staffers to give the candidate distance, did not mind chanting, "Bernie, Bernie, Bernie," when they spotted him.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/08/12/iowa-politics-presidential-candidates-2020-style-contrast-caucus-sanders-warren-harris-buttigieg/1992336001/

[lunasun]

17. Yes but the NYT snippet posted is

“suggesting that Mr. Sanders, 77, may be struggling to gain traction in the state that fueled his political rise”
Your excerpt does not give that impression

[lapucelle]

18. Sanders looks to capture magic, again

is the lede in the BS section of the article. Here's is what the Des Moines Register said about BS in its entirety

Sanders looks to capture magic, again

Sanders, who arrived in Iowa on Friday, used his time on the Register's Soapbox to hearken back to the transformative moment Iowans delivered for his ideas four years ago. It was at the Iowa State Fair four years ago that a massive crowd and a rousing Soapbox speech confirmed that he had momentum in Iowa.

"When I came here four years ago, many of the ideas that I talked about, at that point, seemed very, very radical and kind of extreme," Sanders said at a town hall before the Soapbox. "Well, it turned out they were not so radical or extreme for the people of Iowa."

Sanders drew hordes around him as he walked the fairgrounds and, unlike other candidates, generally did not stop to talk to people.

He also did not take questions from the Soapbox crowd, as did most of the other candidates. But his fervent fans, some of whom were asked by staffers to give the candidate distance, did not mind chanting, "Bernie, Bernie, Bernie," when they spotted him.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/08/12/iowa-politics-presidential-candidates-2020-style-contrast-caucus-sanders-warren-harris-buttigieg/1992336001/

[corbettkroehler]

19. These Photos Of The Iowa Crowd There To See Sanders Tell Me Plenty

Link to tweet