POLITICS

Bernie Sanders, bull riders converge in Iowa

Emilie Teresa Stigliani

Burlington Free Press

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Bull riders and Bernie Sanders converged Saturday night.

Both came to Iowa’s second largest city that perpetually smells like cereal — thanks to a downtown Quaker Oats factory — with hopes of paving the way to victory. Sanders has been barnstorming across the state in an effort to drum up support for his presidential bid.

Bull rider Samuel Leftwich had other hopes. He would try later that evening to qualify for The American, a rodeo that would allow him to “try for the million.”

Sam Leftwich, of South Dakota, stands outside the convention center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Saturday, January 30, 2016. Leftwich, who says he likes Bernie Sanders, was in town to compete in a rodeo that night in the same venue where Sanders was scheduled to speak.

Leftwich planned to ride in the in the World’s Toughest Rodeo event held at a ring in the same complex where Sanders stumped Saturday evening.

Rousing himself from a nap in the front seat of his van, Leftwich said that he had not heard Sanders would be speaking in the same building. When asked what he thought of the Vermont senator, the self-described independent said, “I like him better than his opponent.”

The bull-ring hopeful was alluding to Hillary Clinton who came out 3 percentage points ahead of Sanders in the latest poll released Saturday afternoon.

Leftwich, 25, who travelled to Iowa from his ranch South Dakota, said he prefers Democratic presidents.

“When there’s a Democrat president the cattle prices seem to be higher,” he said.

Horses and cows in a corral on the floor of the convention center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday, January 30, 2016.The livestock were being readies for a rodeo at the center that night.

Earlier in the afternoon Quinton Perry was also getting ready for the rodeo.

Perry, hands blue from making cotton candy for the rodeo concession stand, said that he supports Sanders.

“I like his stance on a lot of issues,” Perry said.

Perry, who was in Iowa for his work as an events coordinator — a job description he said was accurate “if you want to stretch it” — serves as the Democratic precinct captain for Tate Township in Ohio.

Perry described his home as a “red county” and said that his work as a captain mostly involved getting Democrats to show up for the polls.

When asked if he thought the bull riding community supported Sanders, he said probably not.

While the rodeo got started, Sanders was getting plenty of love in the ballroom of the adjacent Double Tree Hotel. Sanders spoke for about an hour flanked by his wife Jane Sanders, Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Raul Grijalva of Arizona and activist Cornel West.

Bernie Sanders delivers the goods in Cedar Rapids speech

First row, directly in front of the podium sat Carole Corbin of Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. She said that she had spent the past few long weekends in Iowa volunteering on the phone banks.

In his speech, Sanders said that his campaign had 15,000 volunteers on the ground in anticipation of the caucus.

Corbin, an environmental consultant, said that she felt optimistic about Sanders’ outlook in Iowa even though Iowans were not answering their phones anymore.

“I can understand why,” she said. One of the people who did pick up the phone – a Sanders supporter – complained about having received four calls that morning from various campaigns.

Sanders packs gym, stairwells in Iowa City

Posted on Jan. 30, 2016. Contact Emilie Stigliani on the road at (802) 310-8757 or estigliani@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/EmilieStigliani.