The Bernie Blackout was real enough. Over the past year, Sanders has been the number two candidate in national Democratic polls more often than not, holding a steady lead over all the other candidates except Joe Biden. Elizabeth Warren briefly overtook Sanders, but her support is now receding. Sanders has also been a front-runner by other metrics: He’s raised more money than the other candidates and has a much larger donor and volunteer base. Polling shows him competitive in the 3 earliest states. If he won those, he’d have a strong headwind carrying him forward for the rest of the race. Despite being an impressive candidate, Sanders gets less attention than rivals who by any reasonable measure have less of a chance. Whatever motivated the Bernie Blackout, it’s now over, with both Politico and the NYT recently laying out the evidence that Sanders is a serious contender.
At www.thenation.com
