DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – For Bernie Sanders, victory in Iowa’s kickoff presidential caucuses hinges on a simple proposition: that his message of political revolution will inspire people who typically stay home on that deep-winter night.
Of course, that’s easier said than done.
Getting new people out to these party organizing events, which usually draw small numbers, remains the holy grail of Iowa politics. In 2008, Barack Obama helped boost attendance to an unmatched 240,000 Democrats and won on his way to the presidency. But these meetings take hours on a weeknight and Iowa in February tends to be frigid.
“We have to reach out to first-time caucus goers or caucus goers who haven’t caucused in a long time,” said Pete D’Alessandro, who is running the Iowa operation for the Vermont senator and Democratic contender. “We have to expand the definition of what the caucus goer is.” He wouldn’t say if the campaign thinks Sanders actually needs to win the caucuses or just have a strong showing against Hillary Clinton to keep him strong for contests that follow.
Sanders, who is back in Iowa this weekend, has been greeted rapturously on previous trips through the state, pumping up thousands of people at rallies with soaring rhetoric. But while his campaign message – with pledges of paid family leave, free public university and single-payer health care – has been received with enthusiasm, Sanders lags behind Clinton in state polls.