[VeejayRampay]

As a European, I have great respect for Bernie Sanders. Some of the policies he's pushing forward are actually (by his own admission) inspired by some concepts that were implemented in part of Europe (Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, France, etc) and proven to be successful in those countries (and at scales that are not ridiculous like some people in the USA posit, see France and Germany, big economies with dozens of millions of citizens).

But to be honest, he seems to be more of an idealistic that is only driven by ideology, an ideology of the common good. Because we're on HN, I can use the following metaphor: he's (kind of) the Haskell of American politics.

To compare his views to those of Clinton is unfair to her, because just like in programming, there shouldn't be scorn and contempt for someone trying to accommodate reality and pragmatism into their views, because as awesome as Bernie Sanders' ideas are, he's pushing so far to the left of American politics that finding common ground with moderate Republicans in the general election will be extremely hard. I relish that he's setting an agenda of social progress and economic justice, but do take into account that chivalrous theories are evidently great until you actually have to act upon them and draft legislation, find consensus, navigate Washington, forge alliances.

All of which is extremely hard if you don't have the kind of flexibility that Hillary Clinton possesses. I say both candidates are important for the Democrats and I'm glad they present slightly different facets of the liberal ideals in 2016 America.