On January 13, 2016, the Bernie Sanders campaign launched its Prove Them Wrong website, which calls on young people, especially any 17 year old Iowan who will turn 18 by November 8, to pledge to “caucus” (vote) for Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucus on February 1.

To participate in the Iowa Democratic caucus, students and Iowans in general must register as a Democrat and determine their voting location.

Prove Them Wrong declares:

They say you don’t care

They say you won’t caucus

They say Bernie can’t win

Prove them wrong

“They” refers to Americans who believe youth are apathetic about politics and voting. In a video to Iowa students, Sanders said the caucus

…gives you a unique opportunity to play a very big role in national politics… What your job is about is to raise the issues that are on your mind… Are we doing enough in terms of social justice in this country, combating racism and sexism and homophobia? How do we move forward to make sure the United States leads the world in combating climate change? What do we do about the high rate of childhood poverty in this country?

Sanders has a knack for attracting young potential voters, who support his progressive liberal platform that includes higher taxes on the extremely wealthy to pay for free college tuition, jobs programs, and universal health care; he also favors a higher minimum wage and fewer wars overseas.

The senator from Vermont is most popular among 18-29 year olds, according to The Guardian, amassing an enormous following of passionate supporters that flood the Internet with hashtags like #FeelTheBern and #BabesForBernie. In fact,

Of all those running for president, Sanders has the highest-level engagement on his individual Facebook posts, according to social media monitor CrowdTangle. He has the largest number of people liking his messages, sharing his thoughts, and commenting on his plans.

Sanders has 2.3 million likes on his presidential campaign Facebook page (2.8 million on his U.S. senator page), more than his closest rival Hillary Clinton. He is consistently the most-searched-for candidate on the web during the Democratic debates.

Sanders reached 2.5 million campaign donations faster than any presidential candidate in U.S. history, raised a fortune from ordinary Americans while refusing money from corporations and billionaires, and has attracted far more enormous crowds than Clinton and other candidates. He was voted the most popular senator in the nation.

Yesterday Sanders pulled ahead of Clinton in Iowa polls. As Barack Obama did in 2008, Sanders may garner a huge youth turnout that could help him win the state and propel him toward the White House.

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The U.S. Supreme Court will determine in 2016 the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s recent executive action on immigration.

Obama’s 2014 Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program would allow up to 5 million illegal immigrants, parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents here for five years, to remain in the U.S. on work permits. They would not have legal status, but they would be exempt from deportation (thus the “deferred action” status).

26 states, all with Republican governors, have challenged the executive order on legal grounds. So far, a district court in Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District sided with the Republicans, and Obama’s Justice Department filed with the Supreme Court to reverse the decisions of the lower courts.

Texas not only argues the executive action violated federal law and the Constitution, it opposes having to spend millions to issue drivers licenses to half a million Texas parents that would be eligible. The Obama administration declared Texas would not be forced to do this.

The decisions of the lower court halted Obama’s plan. The president would have the remaining months of his term to implement the program if the Supreme Court sides with him in June.

Obama’s earlier and similar executive action on immigration has not been challenged. The 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protected children brought illegally to the U.S. Over 720,000 have thus far been shielded from deportation through the order. Obama’s 2016 order would also expand this program.

Obama wants to give the undocumented immigrants the opportunity to “come out of the shadows” and have access to legal work. The conservative states have successfully argued in the lower courts that access to legal work also gives illegal immigrants access to “Social Security, Medicare, tax credits, and unemployment benefits,” though of course through legal work the undocumented would also be paying into those systems.

The summer decision will arrive in the middle of the 2016 presidential race, which has already generated fierce debate over the solution to illegal immigration.

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On Tuesday, January 19, 2016, the Human Rights Campaign, the most prominent LGBTQ civil rights organization in the U.S., announced which Democratic candidate it was endorsing in the 2016 campaign.

The organization declared on Facebook, just after 6:00 in the morning (CST): “Senator to Secretary of State to Presidential Candidate, Hillary Clinton is a proven champion for LGBT equality. HRC is proud to announce its support for Hillary Clinton for President.”

At about 6 p.m., the post had about 5,600 likes and 2,440 shares. The comments section, on the other hand, was subject to a relentless assault by invading Bernie Sanders supporters.

There were 6,600 comments at 6 p.m., the vast majority displeased with the announcement.

A sample of 402 comments posted between 1:18 and 1:44 p.m. revealed near-unanimous opposition to the endorsement, with most writers supporting Sanders. 16 comments either supported the Clinton endorsement or objected to Bernie Sanders (4% of the sample). 7 comments (under 2%) were too vague or strange to determine an opinion. 379 comments, or 94%, condemned the endorsement and/or declared support for Sanders. The top comment, expressing disappointment and praising Sanders, had 5,870 likes.

Many visitors declared their donations to the organization would immediately cease. A typical comment read: “And this is what will make me stop my monthly contribution to HRC. Nice to see your organization is purely corporate and has no interest in the candidate’s integrity or history when it comes to LGBT issues.”

Criticisms included Clinton’s support for anti-gay rights legislation such as the Defense of Marriage Act and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the 1990s, her opposition to gay marriage until 2013, her relationship with Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, who worked as a junior aide in Bill Clinton’s White House, and both her and the Human Rights Campaign’s support from large corporations (corporations Sanders is constantly attacking).

These were compared with Sanders’ call for the end of laws against homosexual behavior in Vermont while running for governor in 1972, his support for Burlington’s first gay pride march and gay pride day, his attack on anti-gay housing discrimination, his vote against DOMA and DADT, and his backing of the first legal civil unions in the nation in Vermont in 2000. Sanders approved publicly of gay marriage in 2009.

A spokesman for the Sanders campaign said, “It’s understandable and consistent with the establishment organizations voting for the establishment candidate, but it’s an endorsement that cannot possibly be based on the facts and the record.”

A petition pushing for the Human Rights Campaign to retract its endorsement and give it to Sanders quickly appeared on Change.org.

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Iowa is the first state to vote for its Democratic and Republican presidential nominees by simple chance. It’s only been first since 1972, when Iowa officials planning the state convention had to reschedule the event on an earlier date because there were no hotel rooms available in Des Moines on the weekend in June they had selected.

Moving the state convention up meant moving the district conventions, county conventions, and caucus up as well, and thus the caucus ended up in January, ahead of New Hampshire’s primary. Very little time was spent campaigning in Iowa in 1972, but in 1976, Jimmy Carter invested time there and built momentum that helped him eventually win the White House.

Iowa has been guarding its privileged position ever since, and candidates compete fiercely for that momentum Carter tapped. If a state tries to move up its caucus or primary, Iowa moves its up even further. Iowa’s first vote is often criticized because it is a rural state that is very white: it doesn’t reflect the demographics or lifestyle of the country as a whole.

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In possibly the most exciting Iowa Democratic caucus in U.S. history, Hillary Clinton took Iowa with 49.9% of the vote to Bernie Sanders’ 49.6%. Iowa Democratic Party chairman Andy McGuire called it “the closest in Iowa Democratic history.”

Even more incredible, six Iowa precincts were decided by coin flip Monday night, February 1, 2016. Who knew that Iowa law stipulates that should a precinct have an odd number of delegates voters are trying to win for their candidate, and the votes are a virtual tie, the final delegate must be decided via coin toss.

In an amazing stroke of luck, Hillary Clinton won all six coin tosses. One has a 1.6% chance to win 6 coin tosses in a row.

One of the coin tosses was rife with controversy. The Des Moines Register reports:

A total of 484 eligible caucus attendees were initially recorded at the site. But when each candidate’s preference group was counted, Clinton had 240 supporters, Sanders had 179 and Martin O’Malley had five (causing him to be declared non-viable).

Those figures add up to just 424 participants, leaving 60 apparently missing. When those numbers were plugged into the formula that determines delegate allocations, Clinton received four delegates and Sanders received three — leaving one delegate unassigned.

Unable to account for that numerical discrepancy and the orphan delegate it produced, the Sanders campaign challenged the results and precinct leaders called a Democratic Party hot line set up to advise on such situations.

Party officials recommended they settle the dispute with a coin toss.

Clinton declared victory Monday night with 95% of the votes tallied and a 0.2% lead. “Thank you all so much,” she said to a cheering crowd. “What a night. What a great campaign this has been.” She promised, “I am a progressive who gets things done for the people.”

Sanders’ reply? “The political revolution is just starting. Tonight we accomplished what the corporate media and political establishment once believed was impossible. Don’t underestimate us.” Indeed, Sanders was polling in single digits in Iowa not too long ago.

The race moves on to New Hampshire, which hosts its primary on February 9. Sanders holds a colossal lead over Clinton, 61% to 30%.

Republican candidate Ted Cruz came out on top in Iowa with 27.9% of the vote. His closest rival, Donald Trump, got 24.3%, followed by Marco Rubio with 23.1%. The latest New Hampshire polls for Republicans? “Trump with 30 percent, followed by Cruz, 12 percent; Rubio, 11 percent,” according to the Washington Post.

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