# An opening for Bernie in Iowa? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 2, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002 "2016-01-02T17:09:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/1 "2016-01-02T17:09:02Z")
At halftime of the Rose Bowl, the Stanford Band made fun of Iowa by having a “Farmers Only” (as in the website) show that included a couple of people in a cow costume, and responded to the Iowa crowd booing with things like, “Were they booing or mooing?” I wonder what effect an ad showing portions of this halftime show, along with a casual reminder that Hillary is the mother of a Stanford graduate, would have on the Iowa caucus? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/2 "2016-01-02T17:12:42Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > At halftime of the Rose Bowl, the Stanford Band made fun of Iowa by having a “Farmers Only” (as in the website) show that included a couple of people in a cow costume, and responded to the Iowa crowd booing with things like, “Were they booing or mooing?” > > I wonder what effect an ad showing portions of this halftime show, along with a casual reminder that Hillary is the mother of a Stanford graduate, would have on the Iowa caucus? I would assume virtually nothing. I imagine that Iowans are mostly reasonable, thinking people, and not a bunch of hicks who will get infuriated by the idea that some city folks in a specific university think they’re hicks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/3 "2016-01-02T17:22:28Z")
Iowans are [quite capable of overreacting](http://patch.com/iowa/iowacity/guns-and-religion-article-brings-out-worst-in-iowans) to outsiders’ perception of the state’s residents as hicks.\* The Stanford band thing is way too disconnected from HRC to make any difference. If she or one of her main campaign staffers was caught disparaging Iowans as lame-brained country folk, it’d be a different story. \*it happens elsewhere in the Midwest as well, though often the “outrage” seems to be partially manufactured by local media to stir things up. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/4 "2016-01-02T17:42:36Z")
Ironically, Stanford is affectionately known as “The Farm”, since that’s what it was before it became a university. And when I was there, cow tipping was something the students _allegedly_ used to do up on [The Dish](https://dish.stanford.edu) – an open space on Stanford land popular with runners that has some large Radar Dishes (hence the name), but that also has cattle grazing. You see this just off I280 driving to or from SF from the South Bay. I say allegedly because I heard people talk about it, but never really knew whether it was just BS or not. However, the Stanford Band is legendary for being irreverent to the point of causing insult. They’re edgy-- it’s what they do. Connecting this to HRC is beyond a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/5 "2016-01-02T17:48:44Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > At halftime of the Rose Bowl, the Stanford Band made fun of Iowa by having a “Farmers Only” (as in the website) show that included a couple of people in a cow costume, and responded to the Iowa crowd booing with things like, “Were they booing or mooing?” > > I wonder what effect an ad showing portions of this halftime show, along with a casual reminder that Hillary is the mother of a Stanford graduate, would have on the Iowa caucus? I’d think an ad like that would backfire by demonstrating how desperate the other candidate was for an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/6 "2016-01-02T18:00:51Z")
This is just the break that the McCain campaign is looking for! Oops, I mean the Sanders campaign. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/7 "2016-01-02T18:20:29Z")
Hillary Clinton has been in the national spotlight since 1992. A stunt by a college band will have no effect whatsoever on the Iowa caucuses. Bernie is last year’s news and will quickly fade away as he loses Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada by big margins and I think he will lose New Hampshire by a small margin. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/8 "2016-01-03T17:56:53Z")
From this bit? No. But Iowa did knock her off her path with Obama. They went into caucus day neck and neck and Obama trounced her by an over 8% margin. Yes, she is polling higher than that margin now, averaging 12%, but odds are that many of the 6% plus that say O’Malley will not vote for him on caucus day, and I’d bet odds are that they are more anti-Hillary than anything else. And there _is_ more enthusiasm among the Sanders supporters … his ending up neck and neck in Iowa and winning in NH would certainly start getting the Dem side some attention! ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/9 "2016-01-03T18:09:18Z")
Bernie’s problem is that he’s building a cult, not voters. I don’t believe, “This times it’s different.” and this coalition of independents, alienated voters, and first time voters are going to actually stomp through the snow in -20 wind chills to attend a caucus on a Monday night. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/10 "2016-01-03T18:26:55Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > However, the Stanford Band is legendary for being irreverent to the point of causing insult. Or to the point of losing the game. > [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I wonder what effect an ad showing portions of this halftime show, along with a casual reminder that Hillary is the mother of a Stanford graduate, would have on the Iowa caucus? > [@dalej42](#): > > I don’t believe . . .this coalition of independents, alienated voters, and first time voters are going to actually stomp through the snow in -20 wind chills to attend a caucus on a Monday night. Not even if they’re all steamed up because Clinton’s daughter went to Stanford? And that nasty band had that insulting website? A month ago? Why–I’m getting all hot under the collar just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/11 "2016-01-03T20:01:49Z")
I don’t know if it will make a difference on election day, but clearly Congress must investigate why Chelsea Clinton went to Stanfurd. Maybe there’s another server with more emails on it… I expect the investigation to take 309 days if it starts today. 308 days if it starts on Monday, 307 days if it starts on Tuesday… ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/12 "2016-01-03T20:16:10Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Bernie’s problem is that he’s building a cult, not voters. I don’t believe, “This times it’s different.” and this coalition of independents, alienated voters, and first time voters are going to actually stomp through the snow in -20 wind chills to attend a caucus on a Monday night. So it’s not much of a cult then? Because one of the nice benefits of running a cult is an army of fanatical believers who will do anything for the cause. Scientologists laugh at your wind chill. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/13 "2016-01-03T21:42:32Z")
Its a negotiation as well as a demonstration. That people are willing to enthusiastically support a candidate whose candidacy puts pressure on Hillary to commit herself to progressive ideals. I doubt she’s really significantly left or right from Obama. “Centrist” is inherently squishy, it won’t commit to the Devil _or_ the deep blue sea, so it tries to be a sauna. It has limited value, even as it is worthwhile, even necessary. Hillary most likely knows that most of us lefties will vote for her, given the…_alternative_, let’s call it. If she doesn’t know it already, Horndog Bill will tell her. But she needs us and, Og help us, we need her. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-opening-for-bernie-in-iowa/742002/14 "2016-01-05T05:02:32Z")
I think what’s going to ultimately kill the Sanders campaign are the Republican candidates. I think a lot of Sanders supporters might love his platform but at some point they’re going to feel Hillary has a better chance of beating the Republican nominee - and they’re going to feel that keeping somebody like Trump out of the White House is more important than getting somebody like Sanders in.