POLITICO: DES MOINES, Iowa — From the street, the only evidence that a presidential candidate was in town was a sidewalk emblazoned with chalk: “Bernie —>.” But inside the Drake University arena, on a stage more accustomed to string quartets and flute recitals, Bernie Sanders was rocking the house.
Attendees crammed the 775-seat Sheslow Auditorium here Friday, spilling into the aisles and clogging the balcony. The slightest crescendo in Sanders’ pitch — a call to address climate change, a plea for single-payer health care — brought them to their feet for a standing ovation.
It’s like a bad movie for Hillary Clinton, the grass-roots fervor for her rival underscoring the trouble she’s had connecting with her party’s base. Clinton’s campaign is battling the perception of an enthusiasm gap, fueled partly by concerns that she’s out of sync with the newly aggressive liberal wing of the Democratic Party. How deep that chasm is was hard to discern. As she crisscrossed Iowa all weekend — and moved on to New Hampshire on Monday — her events were more heavily orchestrated, high on stagecraft, light on ad-libbing. It all raises questions about just how deep enthusiasm for her candidacy runs… (more)
EDITOR: Hopefully Sanders will help unshackle Clinton. He is pulling her to the left. And that may be the direction of the country at this point in time.
