Sanders surging in the polls, Israeli lobby spends big bucks to sink his chances in Nevada

After emerging as the Democratic frontrunner in wake of Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, Bernie Sanders heads to Nevada leading in polls but facing new opposition of the Israeli lobby and its vast cash reserves.

Iran PressAmerica: Despite being pipped at the post in Iowa by Pete Buttigieg with the help of a malfunctioning voting app as his supporters claim, the US Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders came out victorious in last week’s New Hampshire primary. With the Nevada primary just a week away, a Morning Consult poll published this week put the progressive senator ten points ahead of Joe Biden, the former vice president and until now, the supposed frontrunner for the 2020 nomination.

While the news has energized Sanders’ supporters, it’s also motivated mainstream Democrats and establishment talking heads, who’ve taken to slamming Sanders as a “communist,” and a “left-wing version of  Donald Trump.”

These are familiar talking points to Sanders, who has spent his entire political life an avowed socialist. Yet Sanders now faces fresh attacks from the powerful Israel lobby.

Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) is a super PAC headed by Democratic pollster Mark Mellman. With a week to go until the Nevada showdown, the group has been airing ads criticizing Sanders’ 'electability', a nebulous concept that nobody but political strategists seem to understand. The ads began airing on Saturday 15 February.

For Mellman’s organization, the strategy is not a new one. DMFI spent $800,000 on anti-Sanders ads in Iowa, prompting Sanders himself to slate the “big-money interests” for attempting to derail his campaign with “negative ads.” The exact amount spent in Nevada is still unknown.

The Iowa ads did not directly attack Sanders on his Israel policy, instead, they slammed him for his 'socialist' views. 

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