Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has surprised many by surging into second place in the Democratic nomination process, including drawing within 10 points of the frontrunner in some New Hampshire polls. Mollie Ball in The Atlantic reports on the surprise that is the Sanders campaign:

In the biggest surprise of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, this thoroughly implausible man, Bernie Sanders, is a sensation.

He is drawing enormous crowds—11,000 in Phoenix, 8,000 in Dallas, 2,500 in Council Bluffs, Iowa—the largest turnout …