Former Obama Advisor Says People Should Take Bernie Sanders 'Very Seriously' After Rise In Polling

BY JAMES CROWLEY ON 12/26/19 AT 11:54 AM EST

Excerpt:

Former Obama senior advisor and Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer said Senator Bernie Sanders is a serious contender to receive the Democratic nomination, after a recent jump in national and early-state polls. Pfeiffer told Politico that "people should take Sanders very seriously." He said that Sanders has very good chances in the states with early primaries and caucuses.

"He has a very good shot of winning Iowa, a very good shot of winning New Hampshire, and other than Joe Biden, the best shot of winning Nevada," said Pfeiffer, noting that these early odds improved Sanders' chances going forward. "He could build a real head of steam heading into South Carolina and Super Tuesday," a Tuesday early in the primaries where the most states hold primaries and caucuses. That falls on March 3, 2020, with Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia holding primaries.

Pfeiffer served as a strategy and communications senior advisor to President Barack Obama during the president's second term; he had worked for the Obama-Biden transition team after Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election. Prior to being appointed senior advisor, Pfeiffer served as White House communications director. In June 2018, he published his first book Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump. His next book, Un-Trumping America, will be released in February 2020.

https://www.newsweek.com/former-obama-advisor-take-bernie-sanders-very-seriously-polls-1479231