Assuming Sanders "wins" (not certain at all), let's look at it practically:

[George II]

He said he had 25,000 volunteers in Iowa since late summer/early fall
He spent as much as $50 million in Iowa (I suspect it was closer to $30)
He got roughly 45,000 votes

That calculates to less than 2 votes per volunteer who campaigned roughly four months, and each vote cost more than $600.

[DanTex]

1. FYI, the increasing creativity of attempts to dismiss or downplay Bernie's victory does nothing

but make it all the clearer how significant that victory was.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

8. Lol. Right.

Never mind the supposed invincible candidate who got ZERO pledged delegates. ZERO.

[jalan48]

10. Now that's a tough one to spin but I have faith that the Biden supporters will try really hard.

[Thekaspervote]

19. Looking at the betting markets which are very accurate at predicting the GE outcome

Whether your guy won IA or not... there will be no victory in the GE

Link to tweet

?s=21

This isn’t an I gotcha moment/post.. it’s reality

[DanTex]

24. LOL. Whoever tweeted that has never been a trader or even been to math class.

The odds have Bernie as the most electable. Right now at 49 for the nomination and 30 to be the next president, that puts him at 30/49=61% to beat Trump if he gets the nom, higher than Bloomberg or Biden.

[Thekaspervote]

27. As I said this isn't an I gotcha moment.

It isn’t about being lower or higher than one candidate or another. Like it or not this is the reality. Bernie is just not that strong of candidate either.

[redstateblues]

25. Depressing. I've always thought BS could win the nomination but lose

The GE. Unless something unforeseen happens I have a bad feeling about this

[lapucelle]

28. Touting having the most round one caucus goers

and spinning it into an an invented metric (“the initial popular vote”) is just sad.

[R B Garr]

39. Exactly. Bernie Math again. nt

[R B Garr]

38. Or...

more people are interested in honesty.

[Gravitycollapse]

2. "He won. But he did a lot of work to win."

[Cha]

3. Wow.. I remember that "25,000 volunteers" figure..

[jalan48]

4. Looking at it practically, Bernie did much better than Biden in our first primary.

[George II]

5. The first primary won't be held until February 11.

[jalan48]

7. True, I should have said caucus to be technically correct. How about caucus then? How did Biden do?

[HarlanPepper]

6. And?

If the Biden campaign is as listless as Sanders supporters here and the media have made it out to be, that doesn’t feel like a very big accomplishment at this point.

[jalan48]

9. I think Bernie would rather be where he is than in Biden's place.

[Scurrilous]

22. Just wait.

The base awaits Bernie below. He can't run in tiny white place forever.

[Cha]

23. And, caucusy Iowa

[jalan48]

26. We shall see.

[Scurrilous]

20. He's halfway to 1% of the delegates needed to win the nomination.

Strong Victory Win!

[Voltaire2]

11. Biden spent 9M on tv advertising in Iowa.

Assuming his campaign also had a ground campaign, he likely spent between 10-20M on the state.

[Ghost Dog]

40. Cost of TV advertising I understand.

But how does a candidate spend many millions "on the ground"?

[Voltaire2]

42. People, salaries lodging travel meals.

Offices. Events. Signs. It is all very expensive.

[Ghost Dog]

43. European political campaigning in no way costs

so much. Why I wonder.

[Voltaire2]

44. 6 weeks vs 2 years.

For starters.

[thesquanderer]

12. According to ABC, Sanders spent $10.8M in Iowa. Here's some more perspective...

link for spending info: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/breaking-money-democratic-candidates-spent-iowa-68734920

Spending:
Steyer $16.3M
Sanders $10.8M
Buttigieg $10.5M
Biden $9M ($4.2M direct, $4.8M from a supporting super PAC)
Yang $6.9M
Warren $6.3M
Klobuchar $3.9M

Cost per vote:
Steyer $5431
Yang $3938
Biden $390
Buttigieg $248
Sanders $241
Klobuchar $190
Warren $183

[George II]

15. I've seen numbers in the news like $300 million total spent.

[thesquanderer]

18. Wow, that's about 5x ABC's figure. I'd be curious to see that documented. n/t

[George II]

21. I saw that $300M a few times earlier in the week. It's really hard to pin down the numbers though...

...there are so many numbers thrown around.

[JustAnotherGen]

13. What's killing me about this

All of this - is that on the left - we champion taking money out of elections.

It will be interesting to see where Biden ends up midway through. Super PAC money or not - if gets farther with the least amount of money - that tells me his recognition is strong.

He might not need all of the advertising and such that others will need - as he's already a 'star'.

[LakeArenal]

14. The reports of Biden's demise are extremely exaggerated.

[George II]

16. Exactly. It looks like he'll get 3, maybe 4 less delegates than expected.

[JustAnotherGen]

45. I agree

And I really truly believe that in SC and NV - Sanders and Buttigieg will falter.

[totodeinhere]

29. That's great. Bernie was able to spend that kind of money becasue he had it, and the reason he had

it is because he gets thousands of small donors who are financing his campaign. Bernie is not trying to buy the nomination by spending billions of his own dollars.

[Me.]

30. This Was From The End Of December

“Bernie Sanders hasn’t just been gaining in the polls for the past month. He has also assembled a campaign juggernaut built to last well beyond Iowa — and stocked it with twice as much money as his top rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Sanders spent a whopping $50 million in the last three months of 2019 to set up his surge, at least $15 million more than any of Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren or Pete Buttigieg, the other main contenders in Iowa. And even while Sanders blew out his spending budget, his legion of small-dollar online donors pumped in enough money for him to finish the year with $18.2 million in the bank, more than twice as much as Biden, who had $8.9 million.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/01/bernie-sanders-fec-spending-110157

[Voltaire2]

32. See the problem is he knows how to raise

money and spend it effectively. That is why he’s obviously the wrong choice.

[Me.]

33. Effectively?

And he couldn't pull out a decisive win? After the complaints he made after his loss in'16 he insisted on rules changes and this mess is what we got.

[Voltaire2]

36. A win is a win.

[Me.]

41. A Win Isn't A Win Until It's A Win

a lot of gaslighting going on tonight

[Turin_C3PO]

31. I'm just worried he can't beat Trump.

I will wholeheartedly support him if he wins the nomination, with canvassing and donations. But I don’t have a good feeling about his chances in certain states.

[Thekaspervote]

34. Agree!

[njhoneybadger]

35. Wall Street has deep pockets and they will destroy Bernie

Whatever Bernie raises they'll raise 10 Times more. The Commercials will be non stop in the swing states. Dream all you want but it ain't gonna happen

[JustAnotherGen]

46. Bloomberg's offices in 6 key swing states

Are going to be set up through November - regardless of who the Nominee is. If Sanders is the nominee - he's going to have to stop being visionary and start being pragmatic. IE Take the money, the field offices, the paid canvassers, advertising and run.

[jmg257]

37. Could be a LOT worse....he could have come in fourth with

almost half the number of votes.