We don’t have results yet from last night’s Iowa caucuses, largely due to the Democratic Party’s incompetence. So, we don’t yet know who the winner will be or which 2020 Democratic presidential candidates will come away with the most delegates. However, it is pretty clear by now that Rep. Tulsi Gabbard didn’t have a good showing.
Last night, in the television coverage, I noticed a precinct with literally zero people in the section of the gymnasium designated for the Hawaii Democrat’s backers. In general, it looks highly unlikely that she will secure a top-five finish when the Iowa results do come in. This is a shame, as Gabbard brings several unique qualities to the 2020 field, such as her experience as a combat veteran, her dedication to issues of foreign policy, and her ability to look stunning in a white pantsuit.
But don’t count Gabbard out just yet. Iowa probably won’t go her way, but, despite CNN’s best efforts — the clearly biased network excluded Gabbard from its New Hampshire town hall series but invited three worse-polling candidates — she appears poised to make a splash in next week’s New Hampshire primary.
Gabbard boasts nearly 5% support in New Hampshire, according to RealClearPolitics’s polling average. That puts her in sixth place, ahead of candidates such as Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer, and Deval Patrick. There’s clearly something about the congresswoman’s anti-establishment, anti-war message that resonates with voters from the “Live Free or Die” state.
And there’s reason to suspect that Gabbard might actually overperform relative to polling.
She draws a lot of support from non-Democrats, such as independents, Republicans, former Trump supporters, and libertarians. These voters are unlikely to get polled, as they may never have voted in a Democratic primary before, but, because the state doesn’t have a closed primary, they could choose to do so. If enough of them do come to the polls, they could seriously change the game.
All of this is to say, don’t count Gabbard out yet.
