Although the 2016 campaign may no longer “feel the Bern” after the D.C. primary, hundreds of supporters at the Sanders’ DC rally last Thursday feel that Bernie has something that the other two candidates lack — consistency.
“The reason that we are still Sanders, the reason that we still ‘feel the Bern’,” said former NAACP President Ben Jealous, “is that if you roll the tape on Bernie and you go back five years or fifteen years or fifty years, he has always given the same damn speech.”
This statement sets Bernie apart from the other two candidates. Donald Trump is notorious for changing some of his stances within the same sentence. Hillary Clinton has changed her position on many issues including immigration, gay marriage, and the trans-pacific partnership. Clinton has justified her inconsistent record as an evolution of ideas over the years, but Sanders’ supporters do not buy it.
“This is a campaign that believes that if you were against the war in Vietnam, then you should have been against the war in Iraq,” said Ben Jealous criticizing Clinton. Consistency has played a huge role for voters.
In an opinion poll regarding whether or not the 2016 U.S. presidential candidates are honest and trustworthy, only 27% of voters trusted Trump, 29% trusted Clinton, and 50% trusted Bernie Sanders.
How is it that a democratic-socialist, a title many people dislike, is succeeding? It is plain and simple, people trust him.
“This campaign has done as well as it has because we are doing something unusual in American politics,” yelled Senator Sanders. “We are telling the truth!”
Bernie continued to excite the crowd as he addressed issues such as global warming, the need for free college, a fifteen dollar minimum wage, fixing the broken criminal justice system, and ensuring equal pay for women. Critics deem many of these ideas as impractical, but even if they are, Bernie has over 10 million votes and wins in 21 states. He proved that an idealistic “Santa Claus” can gain traction if he seems more trustworthy.
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Photo by AFGE 
