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Originally Posted by Huehuecoyotl
The irony is that some people push to say that the Berniecrats or whatever are following some cult of Bernie, but Bernie, as everyone points out, isn't that charismatic, charming, etc. He's an old curmudgeon. The only thing that attracts people to him is he has a simple concrete narrative and simple concrete solutions, both of which carry much more emotional gravitas than the Clinton Third Way The Are No Bad People Except Racists We Just Need To Find Better Solutions And Here Is a 10 Point Solution Involving Having To Know Derivatives To Fill Out Your Taxes and he's been consistent over time. You can hand off the movement to practically anyone as long as they have an honest track record.
I'd say he's more charismatic than you give him credit for. His speeches may not have the soaring rhetoric that Obama employs, but he does control his pitch/volume well, and he delivers extremely well on self-righteous anger. He's extremely credible on fighting for the lower/middle class and against the 1%. His advertisements were spectacular, and he had stump speech lines that resonated and got the crowds riled up.
If Obama is a 10/10 on charisma and Clinton is a 3/10, Bernie is in between in the 5-6 range. Also, in a time where there is a lot of anger in the lower/middle class and you need to harness it, he's about as good as it gets. Trump did the same thing on the right.
Finally, handing it off to someone with an honest track record is easier said than done... How many honest track records exist in Congress? Also, I'd probably use the word genuine or steadfast. It's not just honesty, it's unwavering commitment to a set of issues over a long career. You can be honest and flip flop like crazy without lying about it. That's not genuine, though.
So it's not to say someone couldn't change their mind on a few issues, or shift positions a little, but they need to be genuine to be as beloved as Bernie has been.