HuffPo headline: Bernie Makes It a Race

[Divernan]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-surge_55f5fe38e4b077ca094f6d3d

Headline: Bernie Sanders Is Surging. What Happens Next?
Subhead: Leading Clinton in New Hampshire and increasingly in Iowa, Sanders now has to focus on challenging her nationally.

Marina Fang
Associate Politics Editor, The Huffington Post

When he entered the race in May, political observers largely wrote off Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as a “fringe candidate” for the Democratic presidential nomination. Few thought he would present a serious challenge to front-runner Hillary Clinton.

But Sanders has now surged ahead of Clinton in New Hampshire by an average of more than 10 points. In recent weeks, several polls in Iowa also show him leading Clinton in the Hawkeye State.
While early caucus and primary polls are not always a reliable indicator of the state of the race, it is safe to say that Sanders’ platform of fighting economic inequality is resonating among more and more Democrats and the party’s enthusiasm for Clinton is waning, giving Sanders ample opportunity to paint himself as a foil.

Sanders’ campaign will have to look beyond Iowa and New Hampshire, as he still trails Clinton nationally -- though he is closing the gap, with a CNN/ORC poll released Thursday showing him within 10 points of Clinton.

He does have time on his side. This time in 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama had yet to engage black voters in his campaign against Clinton, with many expressing skepticism toward his candidacy. It was not until his victory in the Iowa caucuses in early 2008, when it appeared more likely that Obama could defeat Clinton for the nomination, that he was able to galvanize black voters.

To paraphrase the Rolling Stones song, "Time is on his side, yes it is!"

[99th_Monkey]

1. This is all falling into place nicely, isn't it?

I keep remembering that little aside Bernie dropped during his early campaign,
when he said "Don't underestimate me." But of course, they did, and now ...
Bernie is suddenly very well-positioned to do this thing.