For the first time ever, Bernie Sanders leads in the Iowa Poll, but he isn't noting it on the stump

IOWA CITY, Ia. — In the course of an Iowa weekend, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders trotted out the endorsement of a former chair of the state Democratic Party, brought U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ro Khanna on the campaign trail and welcomed the endorsement of the national climate activist group Sunrise Movement.

What he did not do was acknowledge that he has landed, for the first time ever, at the top of the Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll. In the poll released Friday, the same day his swing started, Sanders earned 20% support from likely Democratic caucusgoers to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's 17%; former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's 16%, and former Vice President Joe Biden's 15%.

The closest Sanders came to acknowledging the polling prominence was warning audience members at a Newton town hall to expect “lies and distortions” from President Donald Trump and the Republican Party as the primary plods on toward the Democratic nomination, because “our campaign is the campaign that can and will defeat him.” But Sanders has used similar lines before.

To his supporters, the lack of mention is just fine.

“To me, the only poll that matters is the caucus,” Cecelia Sullivan, 24, of Iowa City, said as she left the climate rally Sunday.

Darrow Center, 25, leaving the event with Sullivan, shrugged at a question about the poll. She was glad that Sanders was talking about the realities of climate change instead. Addressing it will mean transcending political party and nation to stave off a global threat, Center said.

“I’m glad that people are talking about the reality of the consequences we face,” Center said.

Varshini Prakash, co-founder of the Sunrise Movement who led the Iowa City climate change event, said she spent the hours before the poll’s release receiving text messages about it, and its results were “exciting.” The results show Sanders is making inroads with Iowans, including the working class, young people and people of color.

She noted her group’s overwhelming vote to endorse Sanders, and specifically cited his call for needing a movement, not a poll, to address climate change.

"What the Sunrise Movement understands — what you understand and what I understand — is it is not good enough to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in American history,” Sanders said Sunday. “That goes without saying. So anyone who tells you, 'we gotta beat Trump,' OK. But then we go back to where we were. Not good enough."

In other words, a good poll is no reason to rest, Prakash said.

“We can’t sit back because we won one poll,” she said. “We need to double our efforts.”

More from January's Iowa Poll:

Bernie Sanders leads the Iowa Poll for the first time, just weeks before the Iowa caucuses

Bernie Sanders rides enthusiasm to top showing in latest Iowa Poll

Elizabeth Warren holds on to 2nd place in Iowa Poll, showing some strengths, weaknesses

Pete Buttigieg's support in Iowa dips as he rejoins cluster of candidates below Iowa Poll front-runner

Joe Biden’s support remains steady in latest Iowa Poll less than one month before caucus night

A guide to Democrats running for president and what likely Iowa caucus participants think of them

Iowa voters split on impeachment in latest Iowa Poll; nearly half don't want Trump removed from office

Indeed, in the hours after the Iowa Poll’s release, Iowa campaign staffers didn’t take to Twitter to gloat. Instead, several posted selfies of themselves door knocking in a snowstorm.

Nick Coltrain is a politics and data reporter for the Register. Reach him at ncoltrain@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8361. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.