Sanders taps youthful enthusiasm in his rise

Associated Press

SIOUX CITY, Iowa

Bernie Sanders was halfway through his opening statement – a stern, 45-minute lecture on domestic policy leavened with a dash of political pep talk – when he realized the crowd had missed one of his rare attempts at humor.

“That was a joke!” he bellowed. Laughter briefly rippled through the audience as the Vermont senator returned to his statistic-rich pitch for increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour and breaking up big Wall Street banks.

Sanders’ down-to-business demeanor on the campaign trail belies the youthful enthusiasm that’s accompanied his unexpected rise in the Democratic race for president. With less than two weeks until voting begins, the 74-year-old socialist could win both Iowa and New Hampshire, a once unthinkable outcome in a primary campaign that was supposed to be tailor-made for Hillary Clinton.