Random Voters

Admittedly, I’m already a Bernie fan so my world view is a bit skewed. I see all the huge crowds for Bernie, in whatever state he happens to be, and I see how many people love him and want to pose for selfies with him, and of course I read all the wonderful, glowing things people write about him.
Perhaps Biden’s and Warren’s supporters are seeing the same thing with their candidates but I doubt it’s quite the same feeling. Biden never gets much more than polite applause, from what I’ve seen.
I remember one time, though, I saw a video and thought “Damn, that’s a popularity level that no politician has, that’s movie star status.” It was an outdoor rock festival and Bernie wasn’t even a scheduled speaker, he just sort of showed up, and as he was walking across the lawn a wave of people was rushing after him, like “That’s Bernie Sanders! That’s Bernie Sanders!” and everybody there was absolutely thrilled.
It was a crowd of random voters. They were there for the music, not for one particular candidate. Yet, Bernie drew the love.
I felt sort of the same watching this. The guy interviewed was a punk teenager who had been interviewed by Bernie Sanders in a Burlington mall, as part of Mayor Sanders’ TV program “Bernie Speaks: the Mayor’s Show,” back in the ’80s.
The funny part was, he’d totally forgotten it, because it wasn’t exactly network TV, it was more like the 80s version of a podcast, and he was only the mayor, not a hugely famous person.
So, he is just a random voter. Yet, when asked if he was a Bernie supporter, he said of course he was, like why would there even be any question about it.
Bernie is hugely popular, whatever the media says, whatever the lying polls say. He is America’s favorite politician. He was a large base of wildly enthusiastic supporters, and even a lot of people who disagree with his views see him as an amiable and honest person.
The Democrats would have to be suicidal not to nominate him by acclimation. The scary part is, that is exactly what the DNC appears to be.