What a lot of people don't seem to get about the popularity of Bernie Sanders [View all]

[Fast Walker 52]

-- is that there is a huge swath of the Democratic party that has been waiting for a strong, serious liberal candidate for decades now.

They know that despite Obama's credentials, talents and charisma, he still was too corporate-influenced. He was a somewhat more liberal version of Hillary, and then in office, he became even more of a centrist.

The fact is a lot of Democrats-- perhaps most of them-- are tired of centrist, corporate Dems, the types who constantly use Republican talking points and who threaten to cut social Security and Medicare.

My feeling is that Bernie Sanders is the strongest liberal candidate we've had in a long time. He speaks powerfully and honestly about OUR issues. We are lucky to have him in the race.

Is he perfect? No, but no candidate is. And he's as close to what I would want in a viable presidential candidate as anyone I've ever seen. He "gets it" on all the big issues. He absolutely does. His instincts are wonderful.

Does his age make me nervous? Yes, a little. He's in great health and very strong-- but a presidential campaign is truly exhausting. Of course, his running mate will be absolutely crucial.

Does his blunt and "extreme" rhetoric make me nervous? Yes-- mostly because of how the media and elites have discussed him and will play him.

Will he be able to win in November? I don't know. But Hillary is not a sure shot either. The bottom line from my perspective-- and I am thrilled we have this opportunity-- is we have to take this chance to get a strong, honest, liberal Democrat in the White House. It's not clear when we will have another candidate like Bernie.

This is our shot at getting our liberal voices really heard across the country-- and we can see how popular our ideas really are. These are the liberal voices usually excluded from the media. We've long suspected they are popular, but it's been hard to get a fair hearing on them. Now is our time.