Surprises ahead of the start of presidential election primaries and caucuses

IN less than a week, the race to the White House  takes off in Iowa for both the Democratic and the Republican parties. The voters of this state and all the others, as scheduled perhaps until summer, will head to the polls and choose the candidate who they believe will best represent the principles, vision and advocacies of their party.
The developments of the week preceding the February 1 Iowa caucuses headlined so many unexpected twists and turns many were not expecting in the past six months.
The Bush brand did not seem well for Jeb Bush, who many thought would be the frontrunner for the GOP, but six debates later and the entry of billionaire real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump has shaken and perhaps redefined what “conservative” means for the Republican  Party.
Donald Trump has been perceived as someone embracing more liberal principles, and yet he has emerged to be the candidate most likely to be the nominee of the Republican Party. Trump dominated the recent CNN/ORC poll with 41 percent of Republican voters nationwide saying they will vote for the billionaire. CNN further reported that more than two-thirds believe he will win the party’s nomination.
Trump has beaten candidates in the polls who were more traditional Republicans embracing conservative principles with strong ties to evangelical Christians. According to CNN, the nearest competitor, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, got 19 percent support in the poll.
The CNN/ORC poll revealed that no other candidate hit double-digits. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio landed at 8 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 6 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 5 percent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 4 percent, and the rest at 1 percent or less.
In the Democratic Party, the latest Fox News Poll shows frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s national lead among likely Democratic primary voters has narrowed — 49 percent to Sanders’ 37 percent.
In Iowa, the Fox news poll reveals Clinton with 48 percent support to Sanders’ 42 percent and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s 3 percent. Sanders remains the frontrunner in New Hampshire, the first primary state after Iowa with a 56 percent to 34 percent advantage over Clinton.
The surge of Bernie Sanders in the polls over time has been fueled by the support of the younger voters  who see the 75-year-old senator as the  candidate who can bring real change in America, with his “democratic socialism” principle.
This is different from the Soviet Union kind of socialism, and Sanders defined it in the recent Democratic town hall meeting in Iowa:
“What democratic socialism means to me is that economic rights, the right to economic security, should exist in the United States of America,” said Sanders, who calls himself a “democratic socialist.” He said the term means that government listens to the middle class as much as it listens to the rich, and that government helps students have access to college. “Creating a government that works for all of us, not just a handful of people on the top. That’s my definition of democratic socialism.”
The CNN-sponsored debate highlighted how each candidate differentiated themselves from each other, with Clinton perceived as the more “experienced” candidate while Sanders highlighted that aside from his experience and preparedness for the highest post in the nation, he has the better judgement to be President.
We will know by February 1 who among the candidates in both parties will have the wind behind their backs heading to New Hampshire. And we will see if another billionaire, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will join the race as he has been seriously thinking of doing so.
Abangan!

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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos