“Leaving aside the simplistic focus on who won or lost, Bernie Sanders clearly appealed to many people Tuesday night, and his secret weapon helps explain why. The gift of plain speech. Not so much the content of Sanders’s remarks, though that matters, than the way he delivers them. He uses the kind of language ordinary people use themselves and speaks with a passion that makes it clear he genuinely believes what he’s saying. Sanders was the only person on that stage Tuesday night who talked like a real person, not a calculating politician or policy wonk.

“In a word, Sanders comes across as authentic. And authenticity goes a long way with Americans. We are a people for whom ideology matters a lot less than speaking plainly and sticking by your beliefs. — From a 9.14 Nation article by Mark Hertsgaard, titled “Bernie Sanders Has a Secret Weapon, and the Media Elites Just Don’t Get It.”