The agricultural state wore a holiday atmosphere this morning, with tens of thousands of Democrats officially opening the ballot in the presidential election • But Democrats will not have much time to celebrate: Between publishing the results and the failure of the impeachment attempt, President Trump will steal the show with a nation-state speech

• Democrats race started // Photo: EI. FI

• Sanders // Photo: Islands. Though

• Biden with hot pizzas for activists // Photo: Reuters

It's official now: US 2020 elections are underway. Although for President Trump and many in the Democratic Party, this election campaign began as early as the day after the 2016 election - the Democratic Party voted first in the presidential election, in the small state of Iowa.

It is estimated that an overwhelming majority of Iowa citizens remained in their homes, with perhaps 16 percent attending voter meetings that began at noon (Israel Time). But those who did participate in the unique democratic process, in which there are no polling stations and anyone who knows who their friend or neighbor voted for, helped American politics, even for a short time.

Candidates in last effort to convince voters in Iowa // Photo: Reuters

Suddenly the American citizen - the voter - returned to being the sovereign. Suddenly, politics is talking - and not just impeachment. All of a sudden they talk about electing a president again - and not the impeachment of a president. Suddenly Democrats are coming back to believe that the people determine who is worthy to serve as the number one citizen - and not a line of people in the House of Representatives who have decided that the Constitution can be interpreted as they want.

Democratic senators, including those running for office - Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Clocher - were forced Tuesday evening, in the midst of their Iowa campaign, to hurry up and fly back to Washington to attend the recent hearings of President Trump's impeachment trial.

How well tomorrow the impeachment trial will come to an expected end, and the primaries will receive the premiere and exclusivity. My heart is with Democrats who can't celebrate too many hours today with the winner in Iowa - because the spotlight will already be directed toward Trump's "state of the nation" speech. Difficult days for Democrats - even if Iowa gave them some color, however pale.

The one who received very special attention in the various media here was actually former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who decided in advance that he would not try to win the Iowa election and New Hampshire polls next week. In fact, he does not expect to win any state until "Big Tuesday" in early March, so Democrats will face several key states, including California saturated, to vote for their primaries. So he has been bombarding these countries with campaigns in recent weeks. He knows that on Tuesday, the fate of no fewer than 1,357 delegates out of the 1,990 delegates needed to win the party will be determined.

The distribution of these axes is not particularly large in total - but it is extremely important to determine momentum and mobilize support. For Bloomberg, there is really no support problem - he has billions. But he waits patiently for March - and by then Democratic voters may lose interest in it. It's a risk for him.

President Trump, by the way, said yesterday in an interview with Fox News that he wanted to run against Bloomberg, whom he called "very small" in reference to his height, and labeled Bernie Sanders a "communist." The conservative Fox Network said yesterday that Trump fears only Bloomberg and that polls in the "purple" key countries - where there is no definite advantage to any party - present flattering results for Bloomberg, in a scenario he will face Trump. Biden also has relatively broad support in these countries. But first, as mentioned, we must win primaries.

The limitations of each of the various candidates yesterday prompted the American media to raise Bloomberg's chances of being the candidate around whom Democrats would eventually unite, because he was considered the most moderate of candidates, and could face equal opposition to Trump. In the national polls it does rise, but they do not determine - not in the primaries or in the general election.

"Crazy Bernie" ran away early.

But Bloomberg's thoughts came out of nowhere. I arrived in Iowa State on Friday. I saw two candidates (former Vice President Joe Biden, and former South Bend mayor Pete Buttidge). A third candidate, Bernie Sanders, was scheduled to attend a Super Bowl viewing party at one of the bars in the capital. I got to the party, but I was told he left pretty quickly (reportedly, even before the opening whistle). No wonder Trump calls him "Crazy Bernie." He can't even enjoy the most important event in American sports with his voters. After all, this is one of the most popular metrics for voters - if I can have a drink with the candidate and spend time with him.

More on:

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That's how momentum is built: the Democratic presidential choice in Iowa

I must point out: Democrats have cause for concern. None of the three give the impression that he will be able to sweep an entire movement, and establish a voting coalition like the one Trump has created from the middle, which included middle-class white men, suburban white women, non-partisan voters giving the new candidate, and anti-establishment citizens .

A complicated election method

As a tradition, frozen Iowa provided the opening shot, even though it did not represent the entire U.S. population (91 percent white), and even though its electoral weight is relatively small. It is not to be forgotten that Iowa is considered a "purple" state - that is, not a distinctly Republican and clearly Democratic - and therefore No party can afford to ignore it, so President Trump - who doesn't have to deal with his party's primaries in practical terms - came to Iowa last week to enjoy the limelight and steal some attention.

How do you vote in an "election assembly"?

The method in Iowa is so special that even a candidate whose polls do not give him the win - there is a chance of getting second place and maybe even winning the same number of delegates. The reason for this also lies in the special laws of the voters' assembly (see explanation in the framework) and the method of distributing delegates. The complicated method will ensure that we have an interesting February, and there is a reasonable chance that even after "Big Tuesday" there will still be no clear winner in the race.

In Sanders headquarters, by the way, are outraged by the Democratic Party's intervention - which again comes out against it. Just two weeks ago, Hillary Clinton strongly attacked him, claiming that "nobody likes him," and now even at the party center are considering steps to change the deputation counting system, a matter that will make it hard to win.

East Germany or USA?

Sanders, with his young army, does not intend to give up - and despite his age (78), he emerges as the freshest candidate. Young Buttagej is exhilarating that he is special compared to other candidates - a military past in Afghanistan, a declared homosexual, 38, and a former mayor who knows how to speak to all audiences - but he is far from enjoying Obama's charisma, and he still doesn't have the voice The black. However, it should be noted that at his election event where I attended, there were four African-Americans on the scene in front of a largely white audience.

Bernie Sanders is a phenomenon. He is very excited and promised ahead of Election Day: "Tomorrow is the beginning, the beginning of Trump's end." His audience is very young and energetic - but not enough. In general, when you listen to it, it's hard to believe that things are being said about U.S. soil. Throughout American history, there have been prominent leftists, but it is sometimes confusing to think that Warren and Sanders are contesting elections in East Germany.

Democrats reach the opening line of the primaries with 11 candidates, whose profile is mostly an adult white male. That's the average. Despite this, there are Amy Clocher and Elizabeth Warren, who play on the fact that they are women and "it's time for her to be president." Butige also tries to take advantage of the fact that he is young (38) and gay, and talk about the future generation. Democrats talk about "unity" - but there is not much love and appreciation among the candidates.

"The US is so divided"

"I don't know if the results in Iowa will give us answers. In my opinion, we'll get more questions," says Sean, a Democratic voter who supports Sanders, "I think Sanders will at least take care of America's workers and people, too. But I'm not too sure. We have a win. " Michael, a student of sociology at the University of Iowa, tells me that the fact that Trump's sentence in the Senate is coming to an end - only reinforces the US president: "It's amazing how much America is divided."

Indeed, we live in a split screen. Yesterday, hearings in Trump's impeachment trial resumed, and in fact the defense and prosecution arguments ended. Now, just waiting for the jury verdict - that is, 100 members of the Senate - that will probably be accepted tomorrow. Even earlier today, Trump is expected to deliver the nation-state speech in front of both congressional and Supreme Court justices.

This is the situation in America today: A president who succeeds in bringing the economy to new heights and bringing America back to its global position finds himself speaking to lawmakers who want (in part) to eliminate it, in an election year in which his predecessor's vice president tries to win it (if he wins the primaries), and while the citizens In America, they still have a Kansas City Super Bowl victory and are each split in their camp.

United in their split

Most of the electoral meetings were to be held in the morning, after printing these lines. But even before the meetings opened, it was evident that Iowa was wearing a holiday. In the Des Moines, you can see signs calling people to vote - at the local school, community center. Even outside of Iowa, meetings were held for citizens of the state. One was to take place in Paris, another in Scotland. Even in Tbilisi, Georgia, Iowa residents voted yesterday, well ahead of Iowa residents in Iowa.

For three years and three months, Democrats have been waiting for this moment since Hillary Clinton's trauma - and they also won't miss a chance to miss a chance: They may present a candidate who won't even give Fayette to Trump in the important states (except in the national polls that aren't relevant to the US election). After counting votes during the night between Monday and Tuesday, we're supposed to know what message the Democrats cast for their representatives: whether they want victory or prefer ideology and passion - that will keep the party out of the White House.

The 2016 election will be a children's game compared to the turbulent election campaign that we expect in the coming months. Anyone who thinks the media will only deal with the democratic primaries by summer - is big mistake. The real preoccupation of the media is: Trump, Trump and then again Trump. And the truth? Democrats also prefer to quarrel with him than to present compelling arguments to their constituents, who are quite confused by the messages coming from 11 candidates. But how lucky Democrats are to have Trump - none of it ...