Sen. Sanders visits campaign volunteers ahead of caucus

Close race underscores importance of voter turnout, Sanders says

By Kate Hayden

khayden@charlescitypress.com

Homeowner Bob Frascht only had a few days’ notice before learning that a presidential candidate would be hanging out in his garage. He decided the workshop space could use a little sprucing up.

“They didn’t really find out for sure until Wednesday. I thought, ‘Boy, I’ve got a lot of work to do in here,’” Frascht joked as the Bernie Sanders campaign excitedly idled around Saturday, waiting. “I’ve had a lot of compliments today on my garage. It makes me feel good. It’s my favorite place to be.”

The Vermont senator and Democratic candidate, who drew a crowd of 20,000 in Minnesota earlier last week, met with about 40 dedicated Sanders volunteers and campaign staffers during the private event. Sanders only spent about 20 minutes speaking and shaking hands before he boarded the bus for up to 10 other weekend event stops, but that didn’t dampen volunteers’ spirits. Sanders himself seemed to enjoy it.

“We have done rallies and meetings in many, many different venues. This is one of the more interesting ones,” Sanders joked, to volunteers’ cheers.

Frascht first learned of Sanders as a political contributor on the radio, long before Sanders began making national headlines. He was encouraged enough by Sanders’ campaign announcement to call the Mason City campaign headquarters, offering his heated garage as a volunteer workspace when he learned they needed a gathering point.

“I listened to Bernie Sanders on the Thom Hartmann show for a long time, five, six years or longer … so I’ve been a supporter before the beginning, basically,” Frascht said. “I think the way people in Vermont treat him –– even Republicans vote for him there –– and they’ll have Bernie signs plus Republican signs in their yards, and if he can do that in Vermont, then he should be able to do that nationwide and pull off a victory here.”

Catie Nations, from St. Paul, Minn., joined the group Saturday as a first-time volunteer after first seeing Sanders speak on Tuesday. Nations, who describes her previous involvement as a “show up and vote” Democrat, said her interest in Sanders grew during the first Democratic debate –– and cemented after seeing him for the first time last week.

“I have never been involved in a campaign. Bernie got me super excited so I called the Mason City office yesterday and asked how I could help,” Nations said. “With Bernie I just feel like, ‘oh, right’. There’s a humanness in there about taking care of people that I don’t see in politics.”

In the last Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll released before caucus night, Sanders trails just behind frontrunner Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State. Saturday night’s Iowa Poll reports Clinton’s lead supported by 45 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers, versus Sanders’ 42 percent of caucusgoers. Even before the poll was released, Sanders cautioned campaign workers that strong numbers Monday will depend on strong turnout support.

“This is very clearly a close election. In my view, we will win on Monday night if –– here’s the big if –– if there is a large voter turnout,” Sanders said, focusing on student and first-time voter populations in his short speech. “If the voter turnout is low, we will be struggling and we may not win.“

Frascht, who’s lived in Charles City nearly his whole life, believes Sanders can rally the support to push a Democratic nomination.

“I think there’s a lot of hidden supporter for Bernie,” Frascht said. “If people show up, we’ve got the power, we’ll do it. If they don’t show up –– we’re in trouble, the country’s in trouble, because we can’t continue the way we are. It’s just going to hurt us too much.”