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Iowa Results Foreshadow A Fierce Race In The Democratic Party

By Nick Younker
Published on: 06:58 PST, Feb 2, 2016

Iowa results have given voters many things to think about, but there is one thing in particular that communicates to voters that the Democratic Presidential primary contest is going to be the biggest matchup of the millennium, possibly bigger than Clinton vs. Obama in 2008.

There is one thing that voters should be aware of — there are no guarantees this year. In the beginning of the Democratic Primary season for the party’s nomination for President, the Democratic electorate and voters across the nation only had one person on their minds — Hillary Clinton. Now, they have two people on their minds, and Bernie Sanders is that powerful addition.

There has been speculation among many voters, media, and political analysts that Sanders had absolutely no chance against Clinton. At least, that speculation came up in the beginning. To back those theories up were Clinton’s star power and political prowess, supplemented by her Super PAC donations that have no doubt put her in the pole position for the final primary election, as well as the general election.

But voters in Iowa came out in droves on Monday and showed Americans that they stand firm behind Bernie Sanders. The results that came out of Iowa yesterday have also backed that theory up.

As reported by NPR, the primary season officially kicked off in Iowa yesterday. The results, shown live yesterday as they came in, clearly showed that there was never any clear winner on the horizon. As a matter of fact, Hillary Clinton did not get declared the winner of the contest until 100 percent of the precincts were reporting in their results. That’s how close it was for the “first in the nation” state of Iowa.

Sanders may have lost, but he did not really lose at all, as the Iowa results show. The caucus still delivered plenty of delegates to Sanders that he is not riding Clinton’s coattails, but rather skipping down victory lane right beside her.

In Iowa back in 2008, then Senator Barack Obama was able to deliver 22 percent of the 17–29-year-old demographic while running against Clinton. With Sanders being measured up by the same standards, he was only able to deliver 18 percent of the same demographic.

The Iowa results also went as far as to show that Clinton no longer has the Progressive or Liberal vote nailed down, like many thought she would. Clinton was the frontrunner and the favorite in the beginning, just like she was back in 2008 in Iowa. But she has changed her stance on certain issues that have had Liberals scurrying for a more viable candidate they can trust. That came in the form of Bernie Sanders, who came in with a whale of support from small donors and he has made huge strides against the gun lobby and Wall Street. He’s also in favor of universal healthcare and tuition-free public college.

With 28 percent of the voters describing themselves as “very liberal,” Sanders scored high with them and he rode their support all the way into the winner’s circle right alongside Clinton last night in Iowa.

There are some potential downsides to Sanders platform, if the Iowa results can foreshadow anything. For starters, there are a group of voters that are referred to as “middle of the road Democrats,” as described by NPR. According to their statistics, that group was around 28 percent, and they seem to favor Clinton. But as the Iowa results show, that same group was formally around 40 percent of the base, which means they are down 12 points.

So, with the declining focus group of Democrats that was supposed to shore up her victory, that did nothing but help Sanders in Iowa. The Iowa results certainly do indicate that his own star power and political prowess is a force to be reckoned with. If you were to also couple that with the fact that he is not a recipient of any Super PAC donations, rather solely funded by small donations mainly from the middle and lower class, then Sanders has a real shot at becoming the nominee.

Now that the Iowa results have been tallied, New Hampshire is considered to be a lock for Sanders. That will catapult him to the frontrunner status in a little over a week, if the poll results are accurate.

[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]

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