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By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News
22 October 15
fter a quick trip to Los Angeles for the Ellen Show, Bernie Sanders went to Iowa. Fresh off a debate performance that most polls and focus groups said he won, Sanders reported a surge in fundraising. Then came the Larry David skit on Saturday Night Live. I know, pop culture is not Bernie’s chosen path to victory, but he is becoming a pop icon without trying.
Look at the crowds, his rallies in places like Portland and Los Angeles had the feel of rock concerts when he took the stage. The good thing is it’s not the work of some Madison Avenue publicist that has Bernie’s popularity on the rise, it is the authenticity of his candidacy. Americans are rejecting the carefully packaged politicians who are spouting their poll-tested agendas. Bernie Sanders has not even hired a pollster. His agenda is the same as it was when he jumped into politics 30 years ago.
The first debate was not a game changer. Bernie did a good job introducing himself to the American people, and Hillary at least for now stopped her decline in the polls. They marginalized the other three candidates in the race and stopped the momentum of the big fish not yet declared. After an odd back and forth with Clinton this week Joe Biden decided to not seek the nomination. I am not sure why the vice president to have a skirmish with Clinton this week if he was not getting in. I guess he really hadn’t made his mind up.
Jim Webb has dropped out of the race earlier in the week and is considering running as an Independent. I understand Mr. Webb’s identity crisis, but if he couldn’t poll above one percent in the party that got him elected to the Senate, where does he think his base of support will come from? My advice to Senator Webb is to take some time with his family and wait for an appointment from the next president.
I’ll get off the soap box now and tell you what is happening in Iowa this week. On Sunday and Monday Bernie held events in Iowa, town hall meetings in Fort Madison and Oskaloosa, and a county party fundraiser in Iowa City. It was a much looser Bernie Sanders. He was joking about Larry David and his hair. He stayed on message, of course, but there were some tweaks. He blasted the announcement that Social Security recipients would not receive a cost of living increase. In a manner that only Bernie can get to the heart of the issue, he explained that while the cost of retail products may not be rising, the cost of medicine and things that seniors and the disabled need are rising. Bernie announced that he has introduced legislation to change the formula for determining the cost of living for seniors and the disabled.
“It is unacceptable that millions of senior citizens and disabled veterans will not be receiving a cost-of-living adjustment to keep up with their rising living expenses,” Sanders said. “At a time when senior poverty is going up and more than two-thirds of the elderly population rely on Social Security for more than half of their income, our job must be to expand, not cut, Social Security.”
Bernie also talked about his winning organization in Iowa. He told the cheering crowd of Johnson County Democrats that the organization is in place that can win Iowa: over 50 staffers, 350 precinct captains, and thousands of volunteers. Bernie also described how grassroots campaigns work in rural states like Iowa and his home state of Vermont. source