Clinton, Sanders to compete for O'Malley backers.
'Come Monday night, supporters of former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley could be some of the most popular caucus-goers in Iowa.
That's because they'll be up for grabs in precincts where too few of them show up to make O'Malley viable, under caucus rules, to compete for the Democratic presidential nomination. In such cases, O'Malley's backers may choose a different candidate, a fact not lost on Hillary Clinton or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Both campaigns are eager to claim O’Malley's supporters for themselves in what's now a neck-and-neck race in Iowa — and they’re preparing to recruit them.
“In places where he’s not viable, they would add to our numbers because we would be a comfortable place for them to go,” said Pete D’Allesandro, Sanders’ Iowa director.
Michelle Kleppe, Clinton’s Iowa organizing director, said “It’s absolutely an opportunity and I think one that we feel very confident and comfortable and ready to be able to take on.”
Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa may switch allegiances if their attendance doesn't meet a viability threshold. That threshold, a percentage of all caucus participants at a given precinct, varies depending on the precinct. Until caucus night, it won’t be clear which candidates will be viable in each of the state’s nearly 1,700 precincts.
O’Malley’s backing statewide is about 4.4%, according to a RealClearPolitics average of recent polls, and his viability could be threatened if his support is spread too thin across precincts. Clinton is averaging 46.7% support and Sanders is averaging 44.6% support.
During a CNN Iowa Democratic Presidential Town Hall on Monday, O’Malley urged his supporters to “hold strong at your caucus" even if his viability seems in doubt.
D’Allesandro said O’Malley has a hard-working coalition and probably will be viable in many precincts. But if his supporters are looking for another place to land, he said, the Sanders campaign will have talking points ready to sell them on why the Vermont senator is their best second choice.
O’Malley's backers likely agree with Sanders about the need to reform Wall Street reform, end income inequality and change “establishment politics,” D’Allesandro said. Rather than solidifying Clinton’s frontrunner position, O’Malley's supporters may also want to side with Sanders to “elongate” the Democratic primary process, giving O’Malley more chances to compete, he said.
“We think we can have a very positive conversation with his supporters,” D’Allesandro said.
Clinton's precinct captains, meanwhile, have spent months reaching out to their own supporters and non-supporters in individual precincts to develop relationships with them and understand the issues they care about.
“If an O’Malley supporter is really passionate about gun control, and our precinct captain or volunteer leadership has spoken with them about that before, that is kind of a natural segue for us to be able to have that conversation in that room and ideally bring that caucus-goer over to our side,” Kleppe said.
Julie Stauch, a Clinton precinct leader from West Des Moines who has participated in eight caucuses since 1984, knows what it’s like to support a candidate who isn’t viable. She and other supporters of retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark in her precinct realigned as a group behind John Kerry in 2004 because Kerry's campaign offered an incentive — to let one former Clark supporter serve as a county convention delegate.
Stauch hasn’t spoken yet to O’Malley supporters in her precinct, but her research on Facebook and news sources tells her that supporters of O’Malley and Clinton have similar thoughts on gun control and the need for a president with administrative experience.
“There’s certainly a lot of common ground,” said Stauch, who has held mock caucus nights where Clinton’s precinct leaders practice negotiating techniques.
Stauch said she’s prepared show her respect for O'Malley's supporters at her precinct by praising the former governor's gun safety measures in Maryland. She said she would also be prepared to tempt them with the same kind of offer Kerry's campaign made to her fellow Clark backers in 2004.
“The best way to approach them is to find out what we have in common and what motivates them,” Stauch said. “I call the game caucus poker. You have to look at the hand you’re dealt, and you have to figure out, ‘How can I come out of this in the strongest position?’”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/01/28/clinton-sanders-compete-omalley-backers/79477650/