Why Is Sanders Still Being Treated as an Insurgent?

First Read: “If you consider Bernie Sanders to be the front-runner — or one of the front-runners — in the Democratic race for president, then isn’t he underperforming in the early states he easily won or essentially tied back in 2016?”

“A Monmouth poll of Iowa released on Thursday found Sanders in second place with support from 16 percent of likely caucus-goers… A new St. Anselm/New Hampshire Institute of Politics poll also had Sanders at 16 percent in the Granite State… Yet back in 2016, Sanders won a whopping 60 percent in New Hampshire in his race against Clinton.”

“Yes, the 2020 field is much larger than the one four years ago… But how do you know that the collective political press corps is still treating Sanders more as an insurgent rather than as a legitimate front-runner, despite his name ID and money?”

“Answer: There’s more attention on Buttigieg in third place at nearly 10 percent in both states, or on Biden leading before he’s announced a presidential bid, than on Sanders’ pedestrian numbers in states he already won or essentially tied. Sanders still gets treated more as an insurgent than a front-runner, even when he is a front-runner.”