Bernie Against the Beltway
The mainstream media likes to cast Bernie Sanders as a fringe candidate. Yet the data on individual donors don’t lie: across the country, he generates more enthusiasm than any other candidate — at least, outside the Beltway.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during a town hall on jobs and economic security at Cheyenne High School on August 4, 2019 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller / Getty Images
“[Bernie Sanders] rarely drops by diners or coffee shops with news cameras in tow, unlike most politicians. He hardly ever kisses babies, aides say, and does not mingle much at fundraisers.”
So wrote the New York Times’ Patrick Healy, before continuing: “His high-minded style carries risk. As effective as his policy-laden speeches may be in impressing potential supporters, Mr. Sanders is missing opportunities to lock down uncommitted voters face to face in Iowa and New Hampshire, where campaigns are highly personal.”
Healy wrote those words all the way back in October 2015, a few months before the Vermont senator’s shock draw with Hillary Clinton in Iowa or his landslide primary win in New Hampshire. They could just as easily have been written yesterday.
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