CONCORD, United States (AFP) – Written off by his opponents as a wacky socialist, Bernie Sanders was long seen as the foil who would drag Hillary Clinton farther to the left, rather than a real White House contender.
But with his decisive win in New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday, the 74-year-old Sanders – the country’s longest-serving independent member of Congress – gave notice that his “political revolution” is for real.
An outsider like Donald Trump, albeit at the opposite end of the ideological spectrum, the self-styled democratic socialist may be the eldest contender in the White House race but he has done the most to inspire passionate support among young liberals.
“We harnessed the energy and the excitement that the Democratic party will need to succeed in November,” Sanders told adoring fans at his campaign headquarters on Tuesday, looking ahead to the general election.
Outwardly serious – even friends call him grumpy – the senator from Vermont has spent a lifetime in public office addressing income inequality and fumes that the top 0.1 percent of Americans owns as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen Bernie Sanders speaks during a primary night watch party at Concord High School in Concord, NH. AP
Bernie, as he is known to fans, calls inequality the great moral, economic and political issue of the times and demands campaign finance reform that would prevent billionaires from spending unlimited funds in propelling their candidates to the White House.
He has drawn thousands to his rallies, winning endorsements from Oscar winner Susan Sarandon and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, which concocted a new flavor, “Bernie’s Yearning,” mint covered in a thick chocolate, in his honour.
The catchy “Feel the Bern” has become the popular de facto campaign slogan.
Sanders admits to being taken aback by the extent to which his message has resonated in a Democratic race where Clinton is still expected to win the overall Democratic nomination.
He has run a progressive campaign calling for universal health care coverage, a $15 minimum wage, reining in Wall Street, free tuition at public universities, taxing the wealthy and pulling 27 million Americans out of poverty.
The big question, as with Trump, is whether Sanders can continue to transform his popularity among people who generally do not vote into turnout. On Tuesday, he succeeded.
Born in Brooklyn, New York on September 8, 1941 and brought up in a hard-working Jewish family that could never afford to move out of their small apartment, he has spoken of knowing firsthand the struggle for money.
His father was a Polish immigrant whose family was wiped out in the Holocaust. He attended a local school and a college, before transferring to the University of Chicago.
As a student, he became involved in the civil rights movement and took part in the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.
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