It ain't just DU

[karynnj]

186. Every state can be considered "not typical" if you try.

Arkansas was not more typical of the United States than Vermont is. Both are small and mostly rural, but Vermont scores with MA and NJ and other such states on high school test scores ... and Arkansas is usually in the bottom 10. Vermont also has one of the lowest unemployment rates.

Neither are typical of the US, but I don't remember any Democratic comment that we can't elect a governor (Clinton) of a small state that on most metrics of quality of life was at the very bottom. There were many things said against Dean - including many that were unfair (ie "he's angry&quot , but no one said it was because his state was too small, too white and too weird.

As to too white, remember that Bernie was mayor, not of some white, rural part of Vermont, but of Burlington. Though Burlington is pretty white, it is a refugee resettlement area and throughout the town, you will see people from Nepal, Brundi, Somalia, Bosnia, Vietnam etc. In one local elementary school, there was a list of languages spoken in the home. I can't remember the number, but it was over 40. The first grade at a local elementary school was far more diverse than the schools my kids attended in New Jersey.

The question is whether Sanders can really get enough people to believe in him to allow him to do well enough in Iowa and NH - where it really is retail politics to get people to consider him as the one we want for President. That is always a tall order for anyone, but this year will be as tough as challenging a sitting President, as Hillary Clinton is being treated like an incumbent (or at least a favored VP). I think it will be an impossible battle for anyone, BUT if Sanders succeeds, it will be because he will have connected with people and persuaded them to ignore the media and the party. If he can do that, it will be hard to say that he does not have what it takes to win.