Bernie Sanders has Hillary Clinton’s campaign team worried about Iowa

 Hillary Clinton might be downplaying Bernie Sanders and the surge he has been enjoying since he announced his candidacy but her campaign team is admitting they are worried about his growing popularity in Iowa.

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The ample crowds and unexpectedly strong showing garnered by Senator Bernie Sanders are setting off worry among advisers and allies of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who believe the Vermont senator could overtake her in Iowa polls by the fall and even defeat her in the nation’s first nominating contest there.

The enthusiasm that Mr. Sanders has generated — including a rally attended by 2,500 people in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday — has called into question Mrs. Clinton’s early strategy of focusing on a listening tour of small groups and wooing big donors in private settings. In May, Mrs. Clinton led with 60 percent support to Mr. Sanders’ 15 percent in a Quinnipiac poll. Last week the same poll showed Mrs. Clinton at 52 percent to Mr. Sanders’ 33 percent.

“We are worried about him, sure. He will be a serious force for the campaign, and I don’t think that will diminish,” Jennifer Palmieri, the Clinton campaign’s communications director, said Monday in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Some of Mrs. Clinton’s advisers acknowledged that they were surprised by Mr. Sanders’ momentum and said there were enough liberal voters in Iowa, including many who supported Barack Obama or John Edwards in 2008, to create problems for her there.

“I think we underestimated that Sanders would quickly attract so many Democrats in Iowa who weren’t likely to support Hillary,” said one Clinton adviser, who like several others spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly share views about the race. “It’s too early to change strategy because no one knows if Sanders will be able to hold on to these voters in the months ahead. We’re working hard to win them over, but yeah, it’s a real competition there.”

  And I think they are right to be worried because this is beginning to sound quite a bit like the 2008 Presidential race: Hillary Clinton was widely thought to be the presumptive Democratic nominee before Barack Obama came out of nowhere to upset her in Iowa. I am sure her campaign is beginning to worry about 2016 becoming a repeat of the 2008 campaign.

  Will Bernie Sanders continue to grow in popularity as the campaigns begin to get into full swing or is this just a temporary bump in the polls because voters are looking for a fresh face? I believe Bernie Sanders has a real opportunity to shake this race up because, among other things, Hillary Clinton just is not all that likable. Even her supporters do not seem to be all that fired up about her candidacy.

Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium