Bernie Sanders headed to Iowa

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will meet with progressives in the early voting state of Iowa next week as speculation mounts that he’ll launch a primary challenge to Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton.

{mosads}Sanders will deliver the keynote speech at a Progress Iowa dinner on Tuesday in Altoona, where he’ll focus on wealth inequality and his economic agenda to rebuild the middle class.

Sanders will also meet with labor unions, environmentalists, women’s rights groups, immigration reform activists and other progressive groups.

Potential presidential candidates from both parties are flocking to Iowa, where a strong showing at the unpredictable first-in-the-nation caucuses can propel a candidate deep into the primaries. President Obama defeated Clinton in the caucuses in 2008, fueling an underdog candidacy that ended in the White House.

Clinton is far and away the Democratic front-runner. A CNN-ORC poll from late November showed Clinton leading the field of Democrats at 65 percent. Sanders came in a distant fourth behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Vice President Biden.

Still, progressive groups are clamoring for a liberal alternative to Clinton, and Sanders could fill that role. MoveOn.org is trying to draft Warren, but the Massachusetts Democrat has said she has no intention of running for president.