Dem Strategist: We Shouldn’t Be Surprised if Sanders Beats Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire

[n2doc]

June 21, 2015 10:20 am

Democratic strategist Maria Cardona posed the idea Sunday that frontrunner Hillary Clinton could lose critical early-state nomination races in Iowa and New Hampshire to socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).

Cardona, a self-described Clinton supporter, said on ABC’s This Week that no one should be surprised if Sanders wins both races.

This could be a sign of just how worried Clinton’s camp is about Sanders, who has garnered huge enthusiasm among the left-wing base of the party.

Host Jonathan Karl teased the discussion with clips of Sanders supporters crowing about their man. He polled well in a recent survey of New Hampshire voters, just 10 points behind the woman expected to coast to the nomination.

“I don’t think we’ve seen more enthusiasm for any candidate, Democrat or Republican, than we’ve seen for Bernie Sanders,” Karl said. “Maria, what is going on … Hillary Clinton, supposed to be a coronation here. She now finds all the energy in the Democratic primary right now is with a 73-year-old self-described socialist from Vermont.”

more

http://freebeacon.com/politics/dem-strategist-we-shouldnt-be-surprised-if-sanders-beats-clinton-in-iowa-and-new-hampshire/

[cantbeserious]

1. Yes - I Will No Longer Settle For The Lesser Of Two Corporate Evils - Go Bernie Go

eom

[Oldenuff]

16. No more settling for a mediocre candidate.No more family political dynasties.

If we don't stand up and say we don't want any more Wall Street candidates,then we are screwed for now and evermore..

[cantbeserious]

17. Yes - All Too True

eom

[peacebird]

2. Trying to downplay it, so when he wins they don't look like it was unexpected

That way they hope to stop any Bernie-mentum.

Fat chance!

[Vincardog]

22. They will still be suprised when he wins the Nomination and the general.

[Nite Owl]

3. Think so too

and maybe even South Carolina.

[arcane1]

4. "supposed to be a coronation here". Well there's part of the problem right there.

Sanders is going to EARN it!

[RufusTFirefly]

7. Yes. "Democratic" and "coronation"

What's wrong with this picture?

[SoapBox]

5. Yay!

And I see that it's the usual...

HRC is described as "frontrunner".

Bernie is described as a "socialist"...and (I., Vt.)

Maybe I'm too sensitive but I'm over the labels for Bernie.

[arcane1]

9. They referred to Hugo Chavez as "strongman" instead of "president" with amazing consistency

Fortunately, Bernie is here to speak for himself and set these idiots straight

[RufusTFirefly]

11. Yes! There were some very strict Hugo rules.

You had to mention either Cuba or Castro at least once per article. Also, he lived in a "palace" (unlike our humble White House).

[Grilled Charlie]

6. No Surprise here

Bernie's message resonates with everyone. Hillary's message only resonates with Dems who are afraid that any other option puts an R in the white house...Supreme court...yadda yadda

[RufusTFirefly]

8. In fairness, HRC's message also resonates with hawks and unapologetic corporatists

Welcome to DU, Grilled Charlie!

[Divernan]

14. As to the Supreme Court threat from Clinton fans:

How incredibly gullible, naive, blind to political realities and/or lacking in worldly experience can someone be who does not recognize that corporate/Wall Street donations/quid pro quos will come home to roost with a profiteering vengeance on any presidential candidate who has accepted tens of millions of dollars from them in a combination of campaign donations, personal payments for speeches to said candidate and spouse, and "gifts" to said candidate's family "non-profit" organization. Nowhere is this more vital to said corporate interests than in appointments to the Supreme Court.

Here's the script, kiddos!

Corporate input on Supreme Court appointments:

"Here's the deal. Your supreme court nominations can be soft on social issues. We don't give a fuck if gays marry or women can get abortions. Makes no difference to our profiteering. But by god they better leave Citizens United in place and not approve prosecution of war crimes."

[azmom]

10. Don't ever underestimate Bernie

[MannyGoldstein]

12. This is TOTALLY UNFAIR to Clinton

Bernie's had decades to practice being a Liberal; Clinton's doing a fantastic job for someone who's only been at it a few months. Give her some time.

Regards,

TWM

[Scuba]

15. Snort!

[Divernan]

13. Ruh-roh! HRC's internal polling not lookin' good for her chances?

She will hang on to the bitter end, to keep adding $$$ to her campaign fund - which she gets to keep if she drops out of the race - subject to some spending restrictions (which are variably enforced) but still quite useful.

[pnwmom]

18. Iowa is a caucus state, which means only the most driven Democrats participate in the process.

I'm in a caucus state, too -- and participating requires a huge effort. Only the most dedicated show up for the hours of (boring, tedious, repetitive) proceedings involved, so the result isn't very representative of the state as a whole. Most voters aren't hyper-political.

(The one and only time I participated, none of the people who had voted for the winning candidate wanted to represent our caucus in the State capitol -- which was the required next step. So we agreed to let a person who had voted for a different candidate go there and represent us . . . I have no idea how that ended up working out. Anyway, the whole process was so ridiculous that I could never make myself do it again. Instead, I just vote in the "beauty contest" primary.)`

And New Hampshire is right next door to Vermont, so NH voters are very familiar with Sanders. I won't be surprised if they vote for him, too.

But South Carolina, Nevada, etc. -- those states will be a different story.

[sabrina 1]

19. I won't be. I will be surprised if he doesn't win.

[MisterP]

20. "our low polling is evidence only of our ultimate victory!"

and that's why everyone sees the official faction of the party as a desperate, glassy-eyed quasi-cult out of touch with what the people need

[colsohlibgal]

21. Go Bernie!

Loved John Fugelsang's statement about whether the US will support a socialist Jew - "we celebrate a socialist Jew every December 25th."

I really hope this momentum keeps picking up steam.