John Wittneben simmered as he listened to Hillary Rodham Clinton defend her ties to Wall Street during last weekend's Democratic debate. He lost 40 percent of his savings in individual retirement accounts during the Great Recession, while Clinton has received millions of dollars from the kinds of executives he believes should be in jail.

"People knew what they were doing back then, because of greed, and it caused me harm," said Wittneben, the Democratic chairman in Emmet County, Iowa. "We were raised a certain way here. Fairness is a big deal."

The next day, he endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders in the presidential race.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/clinton-battles-image-of-being-soft-on-wall-st/2254912

Sanders displays the classic strengths of new entrants taking on dominant players—and the world of marketing sheds light on his path to success.
Like many new and different brands, Bernie Sanders has a message that resonates with supporters. But just as big brand managers make the mistake of dismissing new competition, the media has discounted Sanders’s chances of nomination. Indoctrinated by years of “business as usual” both groups assume that history will repeat itself; they assume that the front runner has the upper hand; they assume that the parameters of success are fixed and what has worked in the past will work in the future. The real challenge when forecasting future success—for brands or politicians—is to test existing assumptions, not simply to accept them at face value.
...
Sanders’s message and tone are so different that they simply do not compute for pundits—but they resonate with voters.
...
The evidence suggests that, like other successful brands, Sanders has already built up a loyal following. Now, Sanders’s big challenge is to take his message and make it meaningful and salient to as many voters as possible. It’s a difficult task, but it may not be as insurmountable as the media would have us believe.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/what-marketing-trends-say-about-bernie-sanderss-success/413959/

The Road to the White House starts at Western Illinois University

WIU recently held their traditional mock election. It is an incredibly intricate and organized event starting with primary and caucuses and finishing up with a mock general election.

Dr. Rick Hardy and Dr. John Hemingway have been leading Mock Presidential Elections since 1975. During that time, students who have participated in these mock elections have chosen the winning party with 100% accuracy and have an astonishing record in selecting presidential winners.

On the Democratic side for the Primaries Sanders won by close to a 2 to 1 margin over challenger Hillary Clinton. Martin O’Malley finished the primary with about 1/18 of Bernie’s take of the delegates. See chart below.

http://bernie-sanders.leadstories.com/079022-bernie-sanders-wins-wius-historically-accurate-mock-election---the-bern-report.html