The longer that I follow Senator Bernie Sanders and the more that I listen to him talk about what he stands for, the more I like him as a 2016 presidential candidate. He is saying a lot of things that I agree with, he is a straight talker and – when someone asks him a question about where he stands on an issue, he tells them. He does not deflect the question that was asked, talk about everything related to it and then formulate his own question and answer that. I like that about him.

Although he has been in politics for a long time he does not conduct himself like the regular politician. Americans are not flocking to Senator Sanders only because he has a message that resonates with middleclass Americans; they are flocking to him because although he is a longtime politician he does not conduct himself like all of the other longtime Washington politician.

He constantly emphasizes that he does not accept contributions from big money and that he does not have a PAC. He says that he has taken this position because it is time for billionaires and millionaires to accept the fact that they cannot continue to buy elections and that they must carry their fair share of America’s financial load. He says that it is time to rebuild the middleclass and stop ignoring them. If we mobilize enough people we can accomplish this, he says.

Although Senator Sanders caucuses with the Democrats he is not a Democrat he is an Independent. At this point, I do not think that he can derail Hillary Clinton’s run to become the nominee but he can push her to step up and become a stronger and more forthright candidate. I believe that Secretary Clinton would be a good and strong President but I think that she is going to have to be willing to display and, if she is elected, provide strong support to middleclass Americans. She will need to work hard and find a way to revive this all but extinct class that was once the backbone of America.

Secretary Clinton has admitted that she made some missteps when she was Secretary Of State in how she dealt with setting up a server that was, at best, unconventional. Although she says that she will ultimately be exonerated of any wrongdoing and this will be made evident to the American people, it has given the Republicans a vehicle by which to keep the public focused on the possibility of a smoking gun in her emails rather than on the real issues that she would like to discuss in her presidential campaign.

Senator Sanders is unlikely to become the Democratic nominee but stranger things have happened. And with the way that things are going right now even though Hillary Clinton still appears to be the heir apparent all of her supporters should be shouting to her, ‘just run Hillary and don’t look back!’ They should leave out the ‘something is gaining on you’ part because that might frighten her and cause her to stumble; that would only make matters worse!

One does not have to look too far to find that stranger things actually have happened. Case-in-point; The Donald! Who would have ever thought that he would still even be in the race let alone leading the Republican pack? There is still a long way to go to reach the primaries and Mr. Trump can still stumble. But don’t count him out. He is a lot smarter at reading people (voters) than his opponents and the public give him credit for. He has a knack for reading the people, doing a risk analysis on the fly, making any needed adjustments and attacking from a more advantageous position. It’s the art of the deal…political version!

And with the large lead that he has on all of the other candidates, he could lose a lot of points and still be fine. So everyone who is working and betting against him had better have all of their ducks in a row and even then they had better proceed with caution.

And as far as Secretary Clinton is concerned, what she needs to take from this situation with The Donald is that ‘stranger things have happened.’ Then, she should act accordingly as she moves forward in her own campaign. Otherwise, if she is not careful, she may find herself totally engulfed in the berning flame of a Senator called Bernie Sanders and that would not be good. It could spell her demise. Not likely; but stranger things have happened!

Eulus Dennis