Bernie Sanders, Frontrunner

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

13 January 16

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.

Sanders Surges in Iowa Democratic Caucus 

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:

Hillary Clinton’s Lead Over Sanders Nearly Vanishes

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: 

Biden Praises Sanders on Income Inequality, Calls Clinton ‘Relatively New’ to the Fight

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.

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