It’s hard to accuse Republicans of trying to smear Democrats as Soviet-style socialists when the current front-runner for the 2020 Democratic nomination is an actual socialist who spent his honeymoon in the USSR. From his support for socialized medicine to backing the big-government Green New Deal, describing Bernie Sanders as “socialist” isn’t name-calling. It’s reading from his resume.

Which is one reason Sanders is getting short shrift from the political press. The latest CNN power rankings of the potential 2020 candidates, for example, has Sanders down in sixth place, between Sens. Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar. This despite the fact that Sanders raised $6 million in his first 24 hours as a candidate and currently leads every announced candidate in the Real Clear Politics poll average. He only trails former Vice President Joe Biden, who’s still on the sidelines.

The thinking of the media smart set is that Sanders is so solidly out on the left edge of his party that there’s no way he can win the nomination. The rest of us see the heartfelt support of his fans and hear the unapologetic rhetoric of his message, and we feel a wave of Donald Trump déjà vu.