More popular than the jokers in the GOP side.

More popular than the jokers in the GOP side.

Here is the primary support of select presidential candidates in recent polling:

Quinnipiac 4/25-5/4 (Iowa):

Bernie Sanders: 15

Scott Walker: 21

Rand Paul: 13

Marco Rubio: 13

Ted Cruz: 12

Mike Huckabee: 11

Ben Carson: 7

Jeb Bush: 5

Bloomberg 5/2-6 (New Hampshire):

Bernie Sanders: 18

Rand Paul: 12

Scott Walker: 12

Jeb Bush: 11

Marco Rubio: 11

Donald Trump: 8

Chris Christie: 7

Fox News 5/9-12 (national):

Elizabeth Warren: 13

Bernie Sanders: 6

Joe Biden: 6

Jeb Bush: 13

Ben Carson: 13

Scott Walker: 11

Mike Huckabee: 10

Marco Rubio: 9

Rand Paul: 7

Chris Christie: 6

Ted Cruz: 6

Donald Trump: 4

Rick Perry: 2

Rick Santorum: 2

Hillary Clinton breaks 60 percent in all those polls, so this has nothing to do with the viability of Sanders' primary chances. Rather, it shows that while Sanders is treated by the media as a circus freakshow, his level of support within his party generally exceeds those of the supposed "serious" Republicans in theirs, especially in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Fact is, Sanders is a serious and important voice on the American left, something I gather that even Hillary's most fervent supporters would enthusiastically agree with. And as much as some want to repeat the "he's a socialist!" claptrap, the reality is that his politics—on an issue-to-issue basis—are well within the American mainstream. He's no Dennis Kucinich.

The media might chuckle at his insurgent bid, but he has far more heft in our surprisingly-unified party than most of the jokers fighting for supremacy in their fractured GOP.