As His Leads Grow In Iowa And New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders Shows His Foreign Policy Chops

Bernie Sanders is building on his leads in Iowa and New Hampshire by showcasing his knowledge of foreign policy, and his peaceful path forward for the United States.

According to the latest CBS News battleground tracker polls, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has increased his leads Iowa and New Hampshire to ten and twenty points respectively over Hillary Clinton. Sanders now leads Clinton 43%-33% in Iowa and 52%-30% in New Hampshire. The poll tells a different story in South Carolina as Clinton leads Sanders 46%-23%, and Sanders has the lowest growth potential will only 11% of those polled saying that he would be their second choice in South Carolina.

His success in the polls has led to Sanders beginning to broaden the scope of his campaign. On Meet The Press, Senator Sanders discussed his view of how to handle the Middle East.

Sanders said, “I think clearly the now is not who is at fault. The issue is now what we do, and what we do is bring the region together. Countries like Saudi Arabia, which has the third largest military budget in the world. Turkey, other countries are going to have to get their hands dirty on the ground in taking on ISIL. I believe strongly that the U.S., the UK, other countries should be supportive, but I disagree strongly that the United States should have combat troops in that area. I fear very much that we will be in perpetual warfare in that region. I do not want to see that occur.”

Senator Sanders was at risk of being labeled a one-note economic populist candidate, but his status as the leader in Iowa and New Hampshire has given him the time and the platform to expand his campaign. The Sanders foreign policy message is going to be very popular with Democratic primary voters who also fear a return to perpetual war in the Middle East.

Bernie Sanders doesn’t have the same kind of foreign policy experience as former Sec. of State Clinton, but he is no slouch in the area of foreign affairs. The Sanders campaign understands that to win the Democratic nomination, their candidate must be well rounded.

A lot can and will change before voters cast their votes in Iowa and New Hampshire, but Bernie Sanders is morphing from an underdog to a candidate who is battling on equal footing with Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.