As I sit down to write this piece, Sen. Bernie Sanders just announced that he will be running for president of the United States in the 2020 election. As nearly every American who is old enough to vote should remember, this will be Sanders’ second time running for the highest office in the land – the Vermont senator ran as a Democratic hopeful in the 2016 election but failed to get the candidacy over Hillary Clinton. As expected, I’ve already seen very mixed responses online about his announcement, but I for one am thrilled to “feel the Bern” for another election cycle.

I made my love for Sanders clear my freshman year at Iona, proudly displaying a blue Bernie sticker that spanned the length of my laptop. I wish now that I hadn’t thrown it away! Sanders is a very special politician to me because he is the only political figure from whom I’ve never heard a single thing I disagree with or that stands in conflict with my own social and economic views. Granted, I have not heard every single thing this man has ever said, but every time I have heard him speak, he has presented himself as my perfect candidate for president.

I fully believe Sanders would have defeated Donald Trump in 2016 if he had been chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate. While Trump and Clinton were both bridled with controversies – Trump’s endlessly offensive comments and Clinton’s email scandal, to just name one each – that summoned dark clouds of anger and distrust from large amounts of people, Sanders had virtually no controversy to his name. He has stayed consistent on the vast majority of his positions throughout his entire career, and even to this day he has avoided any serious scandals that could hurt his chances at winning. Further, for those whose main criticism of Sanders is that he’s too old, just remember that Trump is only five years younger than him and eats more McDonald’s in a month than you have probably had in the last six months.

His first time around, Sanders became famous for his impressive grassroots campaign that activated the latent power of the American youth in a way this country had not seen for a long time. Social media lit up with teenagers and college students clamoring for the neo-Socialist with hilarious memes and passionate posts. I do have some cynicism about whether or not he will be able to ignite such a powerful movement for this electoral run as well, but I would hope that the liberals of this nation will be more empowered than ever by their fear and bitterness of these past few years. Where Sanders still may find trouble in this regard is in the potential popularity of his Democratic competitors. With beloved names like Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren also in the ring, I can’t be sure that Sanders’ support from the Democrats will be anywhere near unified.

Nevertheless, I am so excited to see if Sanders has any tricks up his sleeve to recapture the zeitgeist the same way he did last time and finally cinch the nomination.