Bernie Sanders Displays The Greatest Ground Strength A Day Before Iowa Caucuses

A day before the Iowa caucuses, Bernie Sanders emerged as the candidate with the most strength on the ground.

On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, which are to take place on Monday night, senator Sanders sought to project national strength, his fund-raising appeal – which has seen more than 3 million individual contributions — the greatest in U.S. history – and his commitment in bringing about tax and Wall Street reforms, as the key elements in his chances to wrestle away the Democratic nomination away from Hillary Clinton.

The Vermont senator’s rally at University of Iowa Saturday night drew a massive crowd, once again underlining the strength senator Sanders has been able to muster after a few months of tireless campaigning in the region.

Although recent polls have suggested that Bernie Sanders is tied with his fellow Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton in Iowa, many predict that the Vermont senator could sail to victory if the voter turnout is high on Monday, a claim that Sanders has himself endorsed.

And on the evidence of Saturday night in Iowa city, Sanders’ campaign will only be boosted by the show of support from the people in Iowa.

Crowd here in Iowa City as @BernieSanders comes on pic.twitter.com/67JlPMs645

— MaryAlice Parks (@maryaliceparks) January 31, 2016

During his speech, senator Sanders spoke for one last time against the rigged economic setup of America before the first voting is cast in the country. Railing against the “elites” and Wall Street, Bernie Sanders’ supporters accused Clinton of being in the pockets of both, reports the Independent.

But more importantly, instead of focusing on the immediate contest, senator Sanders hoped that the momentum he has been able to build in Iowa would help him when the voting proceeds to the other states.

“If we lose here in Iowa — and I think if the turnout is high we will win — we’re going to go on to New Hampshire. I think we’ve a good chance to win in New Hampshire. I think you will be surprised at how well we are going to do in Nevada and South Carolina.”

Not only that, Bernie Sanders also exuded confidence on his chances in Massachusetts and Minnesota, two states he visited earlier this week, according to the New York Times.

After a raucous night at University of Iowa, Bernie Sanders’ speech culminated with a “democracy is not a spectator sport” cry from the heart, before Vampire Weekend joined him on stage for a version of This Land Is Your Land.

Bernie Sanders has undoubtedly emerged as the darkest horse in the presidential race. While the Democratic nomination was once being touted as a “no-brainer,” with Hillary Clinton expected to win it with ease, the massive show of support that senator Sanders has been able to demonstrate in the last few months bodes well for him in the future.

Of course, Hillary Clinton still holds advantage in many areas — including the groundwork she managed to prepare before Bernie Sanders’ entry, or the support of established Democrats in the race for nomination — there is little doubt that Bernie Sanders is expected to give her a fight to the finish.

And if Bernie Sanders does manage to topple her over, then presidency will not only be within sight for the Vermont senator, but very near a probability.

[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]