I’ve been working all night and am only now looking into things. I gotta say, while I’m slightly disappointed Bernie didn’t win this outright, it’s hitting me hard how downright amazing and powerful it is that in the course of months he has gone from unknown to deeply impassioned support all over the country, ending up in a tie with one of the most well-known candidates this party has ever fielded. Of course, that’s all relative. Most people still don’t even know who he is yet. That will all change now.
Tonight proved that the discontent and anger at the establishment is very real, and tonight was clarion call message from the public: we don’t like what you’re (the Democratic Party) foisting on us.
I don’t care if Trump finished second; anyone with half a brain knows he’s a narcissistic schmuck and a political fraud, and ultimately could never withstand the scrutiny of real journalism, which would have to, however reluctantly, show up at some point. Looks like Iowans weren’t totally buying the snakeoil he was selling (they like more insider snakeoil).
On the polar opposite side, in another universe, was one of the most real and authentic candidates we’ve seen in generations, standing tall, regal and with dignity. An unlikely man in an era of “branding” and “consultants” and “optics” who has captured the imagination of the silent majority who have seethed over dysfunction in DC, capture of electoral politics by Big Money and a two-tiered justice system that has allowed Wall St Economic Terrorists to wreck the lives of millions and walk free while young black and brown kids are killed though unarmed by police and serve jail sentences for non-violent and often imaginary offenses.
The huge behemoth of Democratic Party insiders threw everything they could at Sanders, having put all their marbles in one basket and more than prepared not to be embarrassed again eight years later, pulling out all the stops, fixing the debate schedule, twisting arms, giving marching orders to surrogate attack dogs and piling up endorsements galore — and still couldn’t beat him.
So what happened tonight?
Did Sanders really win this thing, straight up? I’m wondering...Because lots of people are speaking loudly all over the place.
CSPAN had this clip:
Clinton voter fraud in Polk County, Iowa Caucus:
“Caucus chair and Clinton precinct captain do not conduct actual count of Clinton supporters and deliberately mislead caucus.”
Then there’s Twitter, where the People come to speak (when it’s not infested with trolls galore).
Even the vaunted 538 has signed off for the night, leaving us with this:
That's It, Folks (Well, For A Couple Hours, Anyway)
Okay folks, we’re shutting down the live blog. The Democratic race remains unresolved with 12 precincts yet to be counted. It is unclear when we will get those results. For now, Hillary Clinton maintains a 49.9 percent to 49.6 percent lead over Bernie Sanders in state delegate equivalents. For all intents and purposes, the race is basically a tie.
It was an amazing night for the Bernie Sanders campaign and the tens of thousands of volunteers across the nation. This was not a win for Clinton. If anyone doubted that Bernie was electable this should put that all to rest.
I’m too tired to stick around folks. You all can battle over this.