Sanders gains strength – and mainstream Democrats worry

Marshall Matz knows what a losing campaign looks like. 

An adviser to Sen. George McGovern’s 1972 White House bid, Mr. Matz had a front-row seat to one of the biggest losses in presidential history. Senator McGovern, a liberal who opposed the war in Vietnam, drew large and enthusiastic crowds on the campaign trail but went on to lose every state save Massachusetts and the District of Columbia to an unpopular incumbent.

Today, Mr. Matz finds himself watching the campaign of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with a growing sense of alarm that history may repeat itself.

“I do believe that Senator Sanders is too liberal to defeat an incumbent Republican president, especially an incumbent president with a good economy and a huge bankroll,” says Mr. Matz, a registered Democrat who still admires the late Senator McGovern and considered him a close friend. 

“I’m trying to sound the alarm and say ‘heads up’ here,” he says.

With just 12 days until the Iowa caucuses and

“Viable enough to win”A “solid ceiling” on Sanders’ support?How caucus system could benefit Sanders