Tag: Caucus

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, on his first trip to Iowa after announcing he'll run for president, on March 7, 2019, in Council Bluffs. — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders kicked off his second Iowa campaign the same way he concluded his first. Sanders walked onto the stage at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs Thursday evening as a frontrunner: A December Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll showed the senator polling at 19 percent, second only to former Vice President Joe Biden, who was the preferred candidate for 32 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers polled. Three years ago, Sanders called for a "political revolution" fueled by working and middle-class Americans. More: Iowa Poll: Biden, Sanders top early look at possible Democratic hopefuls in 2020 caucuses While Sanders has not abandoned his long-held political platform, he said his policy proposals — like instituting a $15-per-hour federal minimum wage, providing Medicare to all Americans and free public college for all — are now mainstream tenets within the Democratic party. "Those ideas that we talked about here in Iowa four years ago that seemed so radical at the time — remember that?" Cyndie Poffenbarger said Sanders is best equipped to defeat President Donald Trump in 2020. "More people know him this time." Wearing a "Bernie 2016" cap and a "Bernie 2020" T-shirt, Poffenbarger said Sanders stands out in a wide field of Democratic presidential candidates. "I followed him for like 10 years before he ever ran for president," she said.