While the Democratic establishment has tried to marginalize the progressive left — Sanders and Warren — Sanders continues to poll steadily and collect a lot of money.Enough money to get him through the first few primary tests.
Possibly, Bernie is lighting a fire just the way he did in Burlington when he ran for mayor 40 years ago and for president in 2016. He did it by opposing the establishment, staking out progressive policy goals and creating a powerful grassroots organization to overcome the entrenched forces blocking him. He faces more competition this year than he did in his face-off with only Hillary Clinton
Sanders very well may be the best retail politician in the field. He fires up his base consistently in a way that none of his competitors has done.
The primaries are around the corner, and we will know a lot more by the end of January.. It could be that Sanders will poll well enough in Iowa and New Hampshire (second to Buttigieg in both) and sufficiently in South Carolina (behind Biden’s decisive lead), which is a stretch, to make a case for national consideration. By February though, he will have to break through in some of the big states.
Conventional wisdom calls for a run by a centrist like Biden, . But polls and money are moving toward Sanders’ fire and Buttigieg’s cool, neither one a conventional standard bearer.
Evan Sarzin is the author of Hard Bop Piano and Bud Powell published by Gerard & Sarzin Music Publishing. He writes and publishes Revolted Colonies (http://revoltedcolonies.com).