But while Sanders didn't win outright on Monday, the progressive populist did usher in an historic milestone. By winning even a single delegate in Iowa, Sanders, a secular Jew of Polish ancestry, has now won more delegates than any non-Christian presidential candidate in history.
Sanders emerged from Monday's caucuses with 21 delegates to Clinton's 22, according to projections from the Associated Press.
Sanders isn't the first non-Christian to seek a major party's presidential nomination. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania briefly sought the Republican nod in the 1996 cycle, and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut ran on the Democratic side in 2004. Both men were Jewish.
But in a country where more than 70% of the population still identifies as Christian, according to the Pew Research Center, no non-Christian has come as close to the presidency as Sanders has.
Well you would think as a proud Atheist I would have picked up on this immediately, but I guess I was too tired and distracted that day to catch it.
I still have serious doubts about a Sanders presidency, but there is no denying that he is having a very powerful, and ultimately positive impact on politics in this country.
Source http://ift.tt/1o9plbi
