Belying the idea that his surge is a hoax, socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders continues to outpace all expectations in his growing insurgency against Hillary Clinton this month.
According to official fundraising numbers released by his campaign, Sanders raised an unexpected $15 million in only 60 days after his campaign announcement.
What’s more, the vast majority of those funds came from almost 400,000 separate contributions of $250 or less.
Those stats translate to a broad grassroots appeal from among a hard-left Democrat base that is both unhappy with its party and particularly untrusting of Hillary Clinton.
Sanders has leveraged that discontent with an aggressively populist appeal in which he has reduced Hillary’s lead in New Hampshire from 45 points to just 15.
With a similar situation in Iowa, even a strong second place finish for Sanders in the early primaries threatens to force Hillary tack to the left to stop the bleeding.
Yet a move leftward for Hillary poses an alternative threat in which Republican candidates will almost certainly use that ammunition to appeal to moderate voters.
