Bernie Sanders

The 74-year-old and his wife, Jane, have four children.

His stand (entering the race)

The punch-from-the-gut self-proclaimed champion of the underpaid, overworked American worker jumped into the presidential campaign Thursday, April 30, as a very liberal alternative to Democratic heavyweight Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The U.S. senator from Vermont entered the race as a decided longshot, but his candidacy suggests a sharp, perhaps divisive debate among Democrats from now until at least early next year over government’s role in American life and the influence of money in politics.

Sanders, the longest-serving independent in congressional history, caucuses with Democrats in the Senate. He’s spent years building a loyal following of liberals who believe strongly that mainstream Democrats - notably the Clintons - are too cozy with Wall Street interests and too insensitive to the concerns of ordinary Americans.

Sanders avoided criticizing Clinton directly in his announcement, saying he wanted a “serious debate about serious issues.”

Asked whether the Clinton Foundation’s acceptance of money from foreign interests was fair game for a political debate, he replied, “I think what is more fair game… is the role of money in politics.” he said, and went on to criticize the Koch brothers, big donors to conservative causes.

Sanders did offer some contrasts with Clinton. He recalled his 2002 opposition to the Iraq War, which Clinton at the time supported. She has since said she erred on that vote as a U.S. senator from New York.

The party’s liberal wing had been longing for a candidate such as Sanders, but he was not their favorite when he announced his bid. At the time, some were hoping that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., would enter the race, though she said she wasn’t interested.

The allure for Sanders, as well as others, is that Clinton consistently gets only about 60 percent Democratic support in most polls. That suggests there’s a big chunk of voters who are willing to consider someone else.

Sanders’ chief asset is his tenacity. He’s been an underdog in nearly every race he’s run. He lost two U.S. Senate races and two governor’s races in the 1970s, breaking through with his barely successful campaign for mayor of Burlington, Vt., in 1981. He won by 10 votes.

Sanders called himself a democratic socialist, railing against what he termed unfair distribution of wealth and pushing an expansive government that would help create and find jobs.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native was elected to Congress in 1990, then to the Senate in 2006, with aides telling anyone who asked that he wasn’t a socialist with a capital S, he was an independent.

His support

While Sanders is considered a longshot, he has wound up bringing some fresh air into the Democratic race, especially for those seeking who were hoping for an alternative to the status-quo Clinton.

In addition to the income inequality that average Americans face, Sanders has protested a political system itself in which he said billionaires hold sway. “That’s a huge issue, ” he said.

Sanders relies heavily on small-dollar donations, boasting that he has no Super PAC in his corner. And with that stance, he has still raised a total of tens of millions of dollars from hundreds of thousands of small donors.

He offered contrasts between himself and Republicans on climate change (he says it’s a major threat that’s caused by human activity) and a desire to ease unemployment.

“Real unemployment in America is not 5 1/2 percent, ” he said. “Real unemployment is 11 percent.”

The best remedy, he said, is to rebuild America’s infrastructure.

His ideas on education have gained a lot of attention. He makes the case for free public college, writing in a Washington Post op-ed: “It is time to build on the progressive movement of the past and make public colleges and universities tuition-free in the United States — a development that will be the driver of a new era of American prosperity. We will have a stronger economy and a stronger democracy when all young people with the ambition and the talent can reach their full potential, regardless of their circumstances at birth.”

In a speech to the Democratic National Committee in August, Sanders said, “In my view, Democrats will not retain the White House, will not regain the Senate, will not gain the House and will not be successful in dozens of governor’s races unless we run a campaign which generates excitement and momentum and which produces a huge voter turnout.”

As The New York Times pointed out in a political posting in late October: Sanders’ campaign enjoys an enthusiasm that Clinton’s has not harnessed. If he is able to turn out his backers from the progressive wing of the party and augment them with liberal independents new to the caucus process, he could be a threat to defeat her. Even some of Clinton’s supporters have been reluctant to project much confidence, believing that the populist fervor gripping the left makes it dangerous to dismiss Sanders as a mere protest candidate.

His critics

The term “socialist,” no matter how Sanders might define it, turns off many voters in capitalist America. After the Democratic debate in October, Republican front-runner Donald Trump spoke out against Sanders, calling him “a socialist-slash-communist.”

Sanders’ message of more taxes and more regulation has come under fire during these precarious economic times. While his supporters say such a stance would help improve everyday Americans’ well-being, critics say smaller government is the better solution.

Despite his growing poll numbers, Sanders continues to face a key obstacle from within the Democratic Party when it comes to perception: Even with his populist appeal and liberal-friendly stands, many voters don’t really think he could win the big race. He will need to win over moderate and conservative Democrats if he wants to take his liberal positions against the Republican Party.