Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is having a streak of successes, as endorsements and polls offer ammunition against claims by Hillary Clinton that the self-described democratic socialist is unelectable.
Sanders netted the endorsement Tuesday of the political group MoveOn.org, earning 78.6 percent of votes cast by its membership — the widest margin in the group’s history.
“MoveOn members are feeling the Bern,” said Ilya Sheyman, the group’s political action executive director. “We will mobilize aggressively to add our collective people power to the growing movement behind the Sanders campaign.”
The group, whose only previous primary endorsement went to Barack Obama in 2008, promised to organize its 30,000 New Hampshire members and 43,000 Iowa members toward victory for Sanders in these key early nominating states.
“MoveOn’s fight to give the American people a voice in our political system was reflected in the group’s internal democratic process,” Sanders said Tuesday. “I’m humbled by their support and welcome MoveOn’s members to the political revolution.”
The announcement comes on the heels of polls out of Iowa and New Hampshire that show growing momentum for the Vermont senator. In a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday, Sanders pulled ahead of Clinton in Iowa, 49 percent to 44.
“Iowa may well become Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Field of Dreams,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “After three months of Secretary Hillary Clinton holding an average 10-point lead among Iowa Democrats, the playing field has changed.”
In a separate Monmouth University poll, also released Tuesday, Sanders held a 14-point lead over Clinton in New Hampshire, 53 percent to 39.
While he has always polled strongly with independents and new voters, the New Hampshire poll now suggests he has overtaken Clinton among registered Democrats, women, and voters 50 and older.
New national poll data, released by CBS and The New York Times on Tuesday, also reported rising popularity for Sanders. While Clinton leads him nationally in the poll, 48 to 41, her lead has shrunk drastically since December, when it was 20 points.
In addition to the endorsement and rosy poll numbers, Sanders received praise from Vice President Joe Biden in a CNN interview Monday, who said the Vermont senator has been doing a “heck of a job” on the trail.
“Bernie is speaking to a yearning that is deep and real,” Biden said. “And he has credibility on it.”
Clinton has earned the bulk of major endorsements and just this week received backing from Planned Parenthood.
Sanders, meanwhile, has earned endorsements from a number of union groups, including the American Postal Workers Union and the Communications Workers of America.
The MoveOn endorsement comes after the group failed to draft Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren into the race. Warren and Sanders have worked together in the Senate, and she recently tweeted her support for him.
I’m glad @BernieSanders is out there fighting to hold big banks accountable, make our economy safer, & stop the GOP from rigging the system.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) January 6, 2016
Both Clinton and Sanders have met with Warren, and her endorsement is highly coveted by both campaigns. Asked Monday evening how work on a Warren endorsement was going, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver smiled but demurred. “Elizabeth Warren is someone for whom Sen. Sanders has a great deal of respect,” Weaver said. “They have worked together closely, including on issues of Wall Street reform, and they are going to continue to work well together, I think, as we go forward.”
Battles Intensify
Clinton shifted into high gear in response to the spate of good news for Sanders, upping her criticism of his gun policy record and health care proposals. Harking back to criticism she made of Obama in 2008, Clinton claimed Tuesday that Sanders’ progressive proposals were unrealistic and too expensive. “I wish that we could elect a Democratic president who could wave a magic wand and say, ‘We shall do this, and we shall do that,’” Clinton said in Iowa. “That ain’t the real world we’re living in.” Sanders shot back with a fact sheet explaining how he would pay for all his major proposals, including free tuition at public colleges, paid family sick leave, and Social Security extension. Sanders also introduced an ad Wednesday in New Hampshire explaining his position on Social Security.
“To Bernie Sanders with thanks for your commitment to real health care access for all Americans…”-@HillaryClinton pic.twitter.com/XMVPEx8fT8 — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 13, 2016
The Sanders campaign also claimed Clinton was engaging in “Karl Rove tactics” on the issue of health care, digging up a video from 2008 where Clinton shamed Obama for attacking her own work on universal health care efforts.
“It is not only wrong, but it is undermining core Democratic principles,” Clinton said in the video. “Since when do Democrats attack one another on universal health care? I thought we were trying to realize Harry Truman’s dream.”
The Clinton campaign has enlisted Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin to stump on her behalf this week in Iowa. Her campaign is paying for the governor’s travel.
