{"id":1318017,"date":"2020-02-01T22:52:01","date_gmt":"2020-02-02T05:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/funt-column-well-organized-sanders-revolution-poised-for-iowa-win\/"},"modified":"2020-02-01T22:52:01","modified_gmt":"2020-02-02T05:52:01","slug":"funt-column-well-organized-sanders-revolution-poised-for-iowa-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/funt-column-well-organized-sanders-revolution-poised-for-iowa-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Funt column: Well-organized Sanders revolution poised for Iowa win"},"content":{"rendered":"
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AMES, Iowa \u2013 Bernie Sanders supporters like to think of themselves as revolutionaries, but what worries Democratic opponents is their more important skill: organizing.<\/p>\n

The Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses are too close to call, with different front-runners as each poll comes along, but Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has the best shot at winning. That would boost his chances in New Hampshire\u2019s Feb. 11 primary and in the Nevada caucuses Feb. 22. (South Carolina\u2019s primary on Feb. 29 seems locked for former Vice President Joe Biden.)<\/p>\n

Sanders v. Trump in November frightens more Democrats than it pleases, but it could happen.<\/p>\n

Iowa voters have been subjected to over a year of relentless campaigning, exceeding all previous elections. More ads than usual flood the airwaves, more signs clutter the roadsides, and more events are scheduled across the state each day and night. Most Iowans, no matter whom they support, will tell you that the Sanders team makes the most calls and knocks on the most doors.<\/p>\n

Remember, they\u2019ve been organizing here for over four years. In the 2016 caucuses Sanders came within a whisker of beating Hillary Clinton: she got 49.9% of the vote, and he got 49.6. Since that day, Sanders diehards have focused on a first place finish in 2020.<\/p>\n

Only two current presidential candidates can pack arenas in Iowa for full-blown rallies. One is the master, Donald Trump, who parachuted in for a rally four days before the caucuses. The other is the democratic Socialist, Bernie Sanders. Others, like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, hold town halls, sometimes with standing-room crowds but rarely totaling more than a few hundred. Former Vice President Joe Biden stages some hybrid events that come closer to a rally, but they are a far cry \u2013 in size and raw enthusiasm \u2013 from what Sanders regularly mounts.<\/p>\n

Bernie Sanders, with his celebrity road show and slick organization, has events like the one I attended at the City Auditorium in Ames. All 900 seats were filled and so many people stood in the aisles that Sanders had to quip that he hoped the fire marshal wasn\u2019t paying attention. Hundreds more people listened to an audio feed in an overflow room, bringing the attendance to about 2,000 on a frigid night.<\/p>\n

Grammy winning band Portugal. The Man provided entertainment, Oscar winning filmmaker Michael Moore delivered a funny and energizing speech, and Congressional superstar Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York positively wowed the crowd with lines like, \u201cTrue democracy has been purchased by the powerful.\u201d The antidote, she reminded the faithful, is \u201csustained organizing \u2013 electorally and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time 78-year-old Sanders, who began his day at the impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill, stepped on stage, the crowd was more than ready to salute. He congratulated them for participating in the largest outpouring of individual campaign contributions in American history, averaging $18.50 per person, another benefit of organizing.<\/p>\n

His organization is envied by some, but resented by others. Staffers in other campaigns have told me the Sanders team doesn\u2019t always cooperate with statewide party planning and is overly protective of its voter lists and data. Nationally, warnings are issued with regularity by some pundits and Democratic voters about the peril of a Sanders candidacy.<\/p>\n

Yet, other candidates in the still-crowded Democratic field face an enthusiasm gap. The front-runners, other than Sanders, have eager supporters and passionate crowds. But, thinking back to the way Barack Obama electrified audiences \u2013 and the way President Trump energizes his base \u2013 only Bernie Sanders comes close.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m reminded of a scene in \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d in which Michael Corleone speaks with Hyman Roth about the Cuban revolution. \u201cA rebel was being arrested by the military police,\u201d says Michael, \u201cand rather than be taken alive, he exploded a grenade hidden in his jacket. He killed himself and took the captain of the command with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does that tell you?\u201d Roth asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey could win.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AMES, Iowa \u2013 Bernie Sanders supporters like to think of themselves as revolutionaries, but what worries Democratic opponents is their more important skill: organizing. The Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses are too close to call, with different front-runners as each poll comes along, but Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has the best shot at winning. That would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1318017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 02:26:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}