Senator Bernie Sanders, once the victim of a media blackout, is no longer the invisible man.
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Last night, Mr. Barack Obama, the President of the United States of America, gave his final ‘State of The Union Address.’
In 2007 and 2008, many voters in this country didn’t think Mr. Obama, a Chicago Senator at the time, would ever communicate in such a way with the American public, as his chances at the presidency with Mrs. Hillary Clinton as an opponent were viewed as slim-to-none. But Mr. Obama pulled off a historic upset, in large part due to his grassroots campaigning efforts; his savvy use of social media which attracted swarms of youth; and his over-arching theme of change.
Eight years later, as Americans are transfixed on who will replace Mr. Obama as the leader of the free world, history threatens to repeat itself: a Senator, with a message of change and who’s viewed as a long-shot candidate, is creeping up in the polls, and winning the hearts of countless voters, thus becoming a serious contender to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign.
Mr. Bernie Sanders, who earlier this year complained of a media blackout – he wasn’t getting nearly as much media coverage as his counterparts, including Mrs. Clinton – now seems to be a candidate that’s quite ubiquitous, though Mr. Donald Trump, the front-runner among Republican Presidential candidates, is still the reigning champion in acquiring earned media.
In addition to Mr. Sanders gaining the endorsement of MoveOn.org, which describes itself as America’s largest independent online political group, and the Iowa Community for Citizens Improvement’s Action Fund, the Vermont Senator “is breaking away from Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire and is edging ahead of her in Iowa,” reports the New York Times.
A survey from Quinnipiac University found that 49% of likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa are planning to back Mr. Sanders, while 44% support Mrs. Clinton, according to the New York Times.
And on the Huffington Post is an article authored by Mr. H. A. Goodman, a columnist for The Baltimore Sun, that’s titled “Bernie Sanders Will Win the Democratic Nomination and Presidency in a Landslide.”
The post also compares Mr. Sanders’ current run to that of Mr. Obama’s eight years ago, stating that, “like Barack Obama in 2008, Mr. Sanders is the far more progressive and trustworthy candidate with immense grassroots support.”
The piece touts that Mr. Sanders – whose positive favorability scores in 6 out of 10 national polls compared to Mrs. Clinton whose negative favorability scores in 10 out of 10 national polls – has achieved record-breaking fundraising totals: two million individual campaign contributions, compared to Mr. Obama in 2008 who “managed to break just one million contributions.”
Mrs. Clinton called Mr. Sanders’ rise in the polls “predictable,” and shrugged off the notion that her campaign is in serious trouble.
“They (the polls) always tighten up as people begin to make up their minds, as they look at the candidates; (it’s) totally predictable. I feel really good about the campaign organization that I have.”
Polling may be predictable, but politics, as Mr. Trump’s lengthy reign as the front-runner shows us, is not. Will Mr. Sanders be the individual who gives the next ‘State of the Union Address?’ Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: Mr. Sanders is no longer the invisible man.
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Source: 30dB.com – Bernie Sanders vs Hillary Clinton
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