“Bernie Sanders has surprised everyone,” Axelrod said of Sanders. | AP Photo Axelrod: Sanders is 'much more appealing' than I would have imagined

David Axelrod said that Bernie Sanders has shattered the expectations he had for him at the beginning of the race.

“He's proven himself to be a much more appealing candidate than I would have ever imagined,” Axelrod said about the Vermont senator in an interview with Washington D.C.’s WTOP radio.


The former adviser to President Barack Obama and manager of his campaigns said that Sanders, who is gaining in national polls on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “surprised everyone.”

Sanders finished in a virtual tie with Clinton in Iowa earlier this week, and delivered a fiery debate performance on Thursday night, ahead of the New Hampshire primary. The Vermont senator has successfully put Clinton on her back foot regarding her progressive credentials, leading Clinton to punch back at Sanders as a starry-eyed populist.

“Bernie Sanders has surprised everyone,” Axelrod said. “He was known there in Washington as a kind of taciturn, irascible, loner but plainly a strong advocate for his point of view.”