[D]ES MOINES — Bernie Sanders stood before a crowd of 1,700 people in a hot, packed gymnasium at Grand View University on Sunday. It was his last scheduled rally before the caucus voting would start the next day, and the Vermont senator was a bit nostalgic.
Harking back to the beginning of the campaign here in Iowa, Sanders said: “We had no money, no political organization, very, very little name recognition.”
Then, raising his voice, claiming vindication, almost victory, Sanders asserted: “We have come a long way in eight months. Today, as we prepare for the caucus tomorrow night, we have 15,000 volunteers throughout the state of Iowa.”
As he frequently does, Sanders then asked the crowd over and over if they were ready for “a radical idea.” When a swell of supporters responded with “Yes!” Sanders ticked off his main proposals.
Free public college education. A tax on Wall Street speculation. Big bank breakups. A federal minimum wage of $15 an hour.
Pointing to political gridlock and a campaign finance system run amok, Sanders told his supporters they have “a right to be angry.”
The crowd was as rowdy as ever. Before Sanders came on, they whipped themselves up with a number of chants, including “I-O-W-A, Bernie Sanders all the way!”
An extrovert in a Sanders-red sweater tried — and often succeeded — to get the entire crowd to chant “Bernie! Bernie!” after nearly every major stump line.
A number of high profile surrogates spoke before Sanders went onstage, including Congressman Raul Grijalva, Chicago Commissioner Chuy Garcia and Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org’s political wing.
Progressive radio host Jim Hightower poetically praised Sanders as well, calling him “a voice to say no to the downsizers and privatizers, no to the Goldman Sachers, the Wal-Mart wage wackers, no to the bosses, the bankers, the masters and the bullshitters.”
“They think they are the top dogs and we are just a bunch of fire hydrants out here,” added Hightower, a former Texas commissioner of agriculture and longtime Sanders supporter.
A number of celebrities also spoke, including actor Josh Hutcherson of “The Hunger Games” and members of the indie rock group Foster The People.
The crowd was also filled with members of National Nurses United, the most powerful union to endorse Sanders so far. A big red bus with Sanders’ face on it has been traveling around Iowa with nurses eager to stump for Sanders, and the group’s Director, RoseAnn DeMoro, spoke at the Sunday rally.
Sanders’ wife, Jane, stood behind her husband during the speech, flanked by two stern figures with earpieces and dark suits, clearly part of the recently activated Secret Service detail for the Vermont senator.
Sanders and Hillary Clinton are neck and neck, with the latest Des Moines Register poll putting Clinton a hair ahead of Sanders in the Hawkeye state, 45 to 42 percent, but within the margin of error.
While Sanders has essentially caught up to Clinton, he acknowledges the race is a “tossup caucus.” A Sanders win, he said, requires huge voter turnout by young, first-time caucus goers.
“My prediction is that if tomorrow night there is a large voter turnout we win,” Sanders said in Marshalltown early Sunday. “On the other hand, if there is a low voter turnout, we’ll probably lose.”
Sanders has been gaining momentum over the past two weeks, picking up grassroots endorsements and pulling in cash. On Sunday Sanders announced that his campaign had collected $20 million in mostly small-dollar donations in the month of January.
Clinton has had her own successes. She was endorsed by a flurry of well-respected publications over the last few days, including the New York Times.
Whether Sanders wins or loses Monday in the caucuses, advisers say he has been genuinely impressed by the level of civic engagement of Iowans, and the sort of campaign work required to be successful.
“Iowa has shown my family and my staff incredible hospitality and warmness and we appreciate it very much,” Sanders said. “This is a beautiful state, and it’s been an honor to have the opportunity to campaign in it.”
