Poll Position
New polling out of Iowa is sending shock waves throughout the political establishments of both parties. A Des Moines Register poll of likely caucus goers finds Bernie Sanders surging to within seven points of Hillary Clinton.
Thirty percent of Iowa Democrats back the Vermont socialist compared to 37% for Clinton. Fourteen percent of Democrats back Vice President Joe Biden.
Pollsters note that Hillary has lost one-third of her support and see another potential upset in the making. Among young Iowa Democrats, Sanders beats Clinton by 23 points. He leads among likely first-time caucus goers by 12 points. It was this kind of enthusiasm that Obama successfully channeled to overcome the Clinton machine in 2008.
Among Republicans, the Des Moines Register poll found Donald Trump leading with 23%, followed by Dr. Ben Carson at 18%. No other candidate received double-digit support.
A Monmouth University poll finds Trump and Carson tied at 23%, followed by Carly Fiorina at 10%. No other candidate received double-digit support. Think about those results -- 56% of Iowa Republicans are backing non-politicians for president.
On a related note, a new Quinnipiac poll finds that 71% of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country. As more and more Americans feel that politics as usual has failed them, it is not surprising that anti-establishment candidates on the left and the right are surging.
Lives Matter
Deputy Darren Goforth of the Harris County, Texas, Sheriff's office, was gunned down Friday night in what can only be described as an assassination. Goforth was shot in the back by Shannon Miles, who then stood over his body and pumped more shots into him.
Investigators believe Deputy Goforth was targeted simply "because he wore a uniform." Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman condemned the killing as "a cold-blooded execution," adding, "We found no other motive or indication that it was anything other than that."
At a press conference, Sheriff Hickman and the Harris County district attorney lashed out at the left and the rhetoric of the "black lives matter" crowd.
"We've heard 'Black Lives Matter,' 'All lives matter,'" Sheriff Hickman said. "Well, cops' lives matter too. So why don't we just drop the qualifier, and just say 'Lives Matter.'" He is right. But, sadly, I predict there won't be any marches a year from now for Deputy Goforth like there were for Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
By the way, another shooting has predictably fallen off the radar screen. The shootings by Vester Flanagan, a black, homosexual radical who gunned down two Virginia journalists, is quickly being forgotten because the shooting doesn't follow the left's preferred narrative.
The shootings in Virginia and Texas indict the left, and media are making sure that such a narrative doesn't gain any traction. For example, ABC News reportedly has a 23-page manifesto from Vester Flanagan, but it won't release whole thing. Why not? Presumably because it is full of left-wing rantings and cannot be used to embarrass conservatives.