Sanders' authenticity might just be enough

I think Bernie Sanders has a real shot at 2016.

Over the past months, his campaign promises of free public university tuition and universal health care have seemed too good to the point of unrealistic.

On Wednesday night a family member dragged me along to one of the over 3,500 household events scheduled for the evening. At the Bolingbrook library, a mishmash group of people - some sporting Bernie 2016 swag already - gathered for a live streaming event where he spoke directly to supporters.

The quality of the stream wasn't great. For the first five minutes, whoever was holding the boom mic struggled to keep it out of the frame and the cameraman never seemed sure when to zoom in or refocus. When Bernie came out, though, there was a palatable energy in the room.

He looked rumpled - hair askew, wearing a suit jacket a size too large. Instead of a podium, he placed his speech (hand written on yellow legal pads it looked) onto the type of metal music stands every high school orchestra owns in spades.

It was his less-than-polished image that won me. This wasn't a man being dictated to by a million-dollar speechwriter or campaign adviser. He could have been my father standing and speaking on an issue he is passionate about, without all the finesse we've come to expect from political candidates.

And this is why I'm now staunchly in the Bernie 2016 camp. His "too good to be true" messaging backed by the authenticity of the man presents too strong, too tempting a candidate for any progressive to refuse support.

As the camera moved into focus on Bernie's passionate repetition of "enough is enough," I came to realize for myself that Bernie might actually be enough.

Bree Roozen

Naperville