Catching up is hard to do
by Tom Sullivan
One reason Donald Trump gets the attention he does is that he's Donald Trump. He is already a household name. Becoming one as a presidential candidate takes a lot of money, shoe leather, and time. Bernie Sanders will need all three. The Washington Post explains:
A new Washington Post-ABC News national poll offers a fresh look at Clinton's and Sanders's standing among Democrats. The survey finds Clinton is overwhelmingly popular across the Democratic Party, but Sanders is a far-less-familiar pol and is weak among a handful of key voting blocs.
Overall, 82 percent of Democrats have a favorable view of Clinton, while 15 percent are unfavorable (a scant 3 percent have no opinion). Sanders's favorable rating is 36 percent among Democrats, with even more offering no opinion of him. Nearly a quarter -- 23 percent -- give Sanders negative marks. That's notable because, despite being better-known than Clinton, his negatives are eight percentage points higher than Clinton.
I assume the Post meant that to say "less-known than Clinton."
While strong among liberal Democrats, Sanders is still weak with moderate and conservative Democrats, those without college degrees, and non-whites. A high percentage of those groups have no opinion of Sanders, while Hillary Clinton's favorables are high, unfavorables are low, and virtually no Democrats have no opinion of her. She's a household name.
That's a tough, but not insurmountable hill to climb for a Clinton challenger like Sanders. Some little-known guy named Obama has some experience with that.