Iowa critical to a victory for Bernie Sanders, backers say (unions start making noise!)

[Omaha Steve]

X post in GD



Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. speaks during a town hall meeting, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014, in Ames, Iowa. Sanders, looking more like a longshot candidate for president, is visiting Iowa for the first time since the midterm election. The self-styled independent socialist would likely run in the Democrat caucuses as a liberal voice in a field that could include establishment Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Photo: Rodney White, Rodney White/The Register)

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/04/30/iowas-critical-victory-bernie-sanders-backers-say/26634129/

Jennifer Jacobs, [e-mail] 6:50 p.m. CDT April 30, 2015

On one recent Iowa visit, Bernie Sanders showed he's the kind of presidential contender who is perfectly comfortable speaking at a podium that's actually an overturned milk crate on a tabletop.

Sanders, a no-frills man of the people, will be welcome in the presidential race becaucharse he's so sincere about his ideas for making working-class Americans' lives better, some Iowa Democratic activists said Thursday. It's 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, he's 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 you're a Republican, you have kids who have student loan debt, too. If you're an independent, you're worried about retirement, too."

FULL story at link.

[L0oniX]

1. K & R

[still_one]

2. No offense, but Iowa is a caucus state, and pretty worthless. It has been pumped up by the media

because it is first, but there are a lot of instances where its predictive powers of determining the next president are no better than a flip of the coin

[sabrina 1]

3. Every victory is important. And every battleground should be fought for.

The unions have supported Bernie and have expressed great disappointment towards the Dem Party since it has become more and more Corporate.

In 2012 eg, the Unions and other Liberal Groups formed a coalition and sent a warning to the Dem Party telling them not to take their longtime support for granted anymore, not to to continue to assume 'they have nowhere else to go'.

A meeting of that coalition of many organizations including Unions raised several million dollars.

I am sure Bernie has received signs from many of these Liberal Orgs and Unions that IF he runs, they would find him very interesting. He has as much as said so when asked if he was surprised by the positive reaction to his announcement. He wasn't surprised because of the signals he had received before making his decision.

[BrotherIvan]

8. Because early wins will help people know that Bernie is a serious candidate

And will give them permission to vote for their principles.

[still_one]

10. If he loses the Iowa caucus, it sure doesn't mean he isn't a serious candidate,, and for sure that

isn't predictive of the rest of the primaries, though the media will hype it up.

The do the same thing with New Hampshire.

Iowa and New Hampshire are not particular bell weather state I venture to say

[central scrutinizer]

4. Why do two tiny, rural states

Populated by mostly white people have so much clout in picking the prez?

[still_one]

5. Actually its an illusion created by the media. The caucus process is actually a joke

[bunnies]

11. Because is doesnt take a billion dollars to compete here.

If we started with large, heavily populated states someone like Bernie might not even be able to run.

[marym625]

6. K&R!

Great post

GO UNION!

GO BERNIE!

[mmonk]

7. Thanks Steve.

Unions can be a critical factor in putting Bernie in the spotlight.

[BrotherIvan]

9. ALL Unions, especially the teacher's unions

better not "get fooled again." They should go with the candidate who will support them once in office, not just picking the winner.