@emilycadei
BROOKLYN BOY - CHICK: Sanders is the closest thing his party has to a public face. He also commands a huge following among younger voters.
ALEX WONG/GETTY
PACKED INTO a cramped Senate hearing room, the crowd erupted into prolonged whistles and cheers. Bernie Sanders had just joined a “Hands Off Medicare” rally-cum-press conference on December 7, and the activists in attendance, mostly union members, were enthralled. When the headliners, Democratic Party leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, took the podium, however, there was just polite applause.