Getty Jesse Jackson: Sanders beating Clinton in tapping voters' 'pain nerve' "That's why he's getting the response he's getting."

The way Jesse Jackson sees it, both Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders are tapping into the dissatisfaction that's energizing voters. Sanders is just doing it a bit better.

"She invokes her résumé, which is what she has done. But there is a generation, say going from 1992, that has no recollection of that work. What they know is student loan debt as well as credit card right now," Jackson said in an interview with POLITICO on Tuesday. "They're hurting from graduating with a diploma but no job right now. They know they are facing home foreclosures from bank behavior right now, so that there is that."


Sanders is "hitting the pain nerve. That's what the essential reaction I'm getting from students who feel it." Clinton is doing it too, Jackson continued, "but not as effectively as Bernie's doing it — that's why he's getting the response he's getting."

Jackson praised both Democratic presidential candidates for focusing more on health care and civil rights as they campaign ahead of the Nevada caucus and South Carolina primary.

"Basically I think Sanders represents an idealism of what ought to happen, and she represents a kind of 'what has happened,' and that has given him some edge of those who have no sense of history. His focus is on what ought to happen versus what has happened. And I think [Clinton] should do both," Jackson said.

The civil right's leader's comments come as both Democratic candidates tout their ties to him in a direct battle to win African-American support in the South. Black lawmakers have also criticized Sanders for essentially being absent on issues important to the African-American community.

Over the weekend, Sanders invoked his support for Jackson's presidential run in 1988 and argued that Clinton has not gone as far to support black candidates.

Jackson said he's fine with both candidates using his name. "I'm flattered, really. Introducing me, endorsing me was a big part of Sanders' résumé. To those who challenge his civil rights credentials, that is on the early stage of progressive politics," Jackson said.

Jackson declined to say whether he has a preference on which candidate he would like to win the primary. "I choose not to make that public," he said, adding that he expects "whoever wins will support the other."

Still, Jackson said in the interview, he was glad the primary hasn't gotten dirtier: "I'm just glad that the both of them are choosing to challenge each other without destroying each other," he said. "That's my concern. It's that they keep fighting above the belt."