SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Jaden Myers couldn’t stomach the thought of voting for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in 2016. So he didn’t.

“I didn’t want to be held accountable for either of them," the 25-year-old data analyst from Mt. Pleasant, S.C., said.

But in 2020, Myers has his presidential candidate: Bernie Sanders. And the Vermont senator isn’t just hoping for a lot more Americans like Myers. His untested case for beating Trump depends on them.

Sanders, the undeniable front-runner for the Democratic nomination heading into today’s South Carolina primary, is campaigning in defiance of some of the party he is running to represent. In rallies across the Palmetto State this past week, Sanders accused his Democratic foes of running conventional campaigns that will prove feckless against an unconventional president in Donald Trump.

Trump, Sanders said, is unbeatable without a historic, unprecedented turnout of young people and middle-class workers who have until now avoided electoral politics and the Democratic Party.

His is a “multi-generation, multi-racial grassroots campaign," he tells crowds. His rallies feature young folk singers, veterans, actors, union workers, an activist from Puerto Rico, a field organizer from the south and someone who described themself as “undocumented, queer and unashamed.” It is a “political revolution.” The word “justice” is used over and over.

Attendees cheer during a Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a campaign event, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) [ MATT ROURKE | AP ]

"There are millions and millions of working people, people who are working two or three jobs, people who can’t afford to send their kids to college, people paying 50 percent of their incomes in rent, they’re looking around, and saying, ‘Does anybody in the political establishment give one damn about my life?’ ” Sanders told a Spartanburg crowd.

It’s a sentiment Sanders has vocalized for years as a fringe senator who refused to declare himself a Democrat until running for president. But as he inches toward Super Tuesday as the favorite to win the nomination, establishment Democrats in battleground states like Florida are not pleased.

They warn Sanders’ idealistic and unyielding campaign could squander the chance to take down a polarizing president. They see little evidence of a turnout surge in the early contests so far and want a candidate who can appeal to moderates and Republicans disenchanted by the vitriol in the White House. They don’t think Sanders can.

Their latest argument is that a Democratic Socialist at the top of the ticket will tank the chances of Democrats running for Congress and in statehouses across the country. Justin Day, a fundraiser in Tampa, is hosting an event next week for Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat in tough re-election battle in North Carolina. He said a Sanders nomination puts the Senate out of reach.

“The average voter will hear the socialist label and how their taxes are going to get increased and they’re not going to support him,” Day said.

Progressives in Florida are sick of the argument. Each election cycle, they have been told only a moderate Democrat can beat the Republicans that have controlled Tallahassee for two decades.

“Look at how well that has worked for us,” said Michael Calderin, head of the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., meets with attendees campaign event, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, in Spartanburg, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) [ MATT ROURKE | AP ]

Sanders drew large crowds for Andrew Gillum in the days before Florida’s Democratic primary for governor in 2018 and his endorsement was a critical boost to Gillum’s unexpected nomination.

Though Gillum sees energy and diversity among Sanders’ support that other candidates can’t easily match, there are warning signs, too, for states like Florida that will be won and lost on the margins. Sanders drew widespread condemnation from Democrats earlier this week in Florida for saying Cuba under Fidel Castro wasn’t all bad.

Though not a “death knell," Gillum said, Sanders will have to explain how his Democratic socialism is different than the socialism experienced by Venezuelan and Cuban immigrants in South Florida. That outreach should begin “immediately after Super Tuesday,” Gillum said.

“I would not bury the lead. I would not wait to have my politics defined,” Gillum said. “I would go to Doral and hold events with the Venuezuelan community there. I would even suggest he go to Little Havana.”

Kartik Krishnaiyer, a Democratic operative in Florida since the early 2000s, said any candidate would have difficulty winning those communities but Sanders gives the party a chance to make inroads in other parts of the state — like Polk and Pasco counties — where Republicans have dominated with white, working-class voters.

To that end, Sanders’ message is resonating in a red and rural state like South Carolina, where he drew the largest crowds of anyone in the field. Nearly 2,000 showed up to hear Sanders speak in upstate South Carolina on Thursday, an area that is not known for its progressive politics.

“When the establishment sees turnout like this, you’re making them a little nervous,” Sanders said.

Polls show Sanders running behind former Vice President Joe Biden in South Carolina, but the real test will be Tuesday, when 14 states hold primaries. Florida votes on March 17.

Many of his supporters are unfazed by Sanders’ Democratic Socialism, even if it’s new to them. Rachel Downs, a 32-year-old student doctor from Greenville, said she is tired of spending most of her days calling drug companies to try to get medication coupons for her patients. She supports Sanders because of his Medicare-for-All plan.

“If I sit down and write down what’s wrong with the government and then try to come up with my own solutions, I come up with Bernie’s ideas," Downs said. “So I guess that my makes me a Democratic Socialist.”

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