Anyone who has even remotely paid attention to the national news media in recent weeks can tell you that Donald Trump is seeking the Republican nomination for president of the U.S.

And not only is the billionaire real estate mogul and reality TV star seeking the nomination; he’s dominating all the other Republican candidates in essentially every poll despite a string of controversial statements.  “The Donald” is like a villain from an 80s slasher movie; just when you think he’s finally finished, he somehow comes back stronger than ever.

But true lovers of our democracy would do well to cease giving attention to this running joke of a presidential candidate.  The candidate who needs a closer look is the man from the Democratic Party who might challenge Trump, should he derail the Hillary Clinton train; that man is Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont.

Sanders is the longest reigning Independent Senator in U.S. history, and he represents the interests of the common man.  His main issue for years has been income inequality — he likes to constantly point out that 1 percent of the population controls about 40 percent of our country’s wealth.

A self-described Democratic Socialist, Sanders wants to push our society to model that of many West European and Scandinavian countries, who tend to have higher quality of life and more social benefits than their American counterpart.

One would think that for an American politician, referring to yourself as a socialist would be political suicide and yet Sanders has been on fire as of late.  He’s drawing huge crowds; he’s been steadily closing in on the Clinton, who was previously seen as a shoo-in for the presidency; and hypothetical election polls show him defeating Trump, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker—the three of the top polling Republican candidates.

So what can we glean from this?  Granted the election is still a year away and these polls only tell so much, but still it must say something that many Americans would prefer to have a socialist from Vermont than a billionaire businessman from New York?

One could argue that it means our culture is radically changing by the day. If Sanders and Trump were to meet in the presidential election and Sanders were to win as current polls suggest, it would be a confirmation of what we learned with Obama’s victory over Mitt Romney three years ago.

That to win a presidential election you must appeal to more than the rural, mostly elderly and sometimes racist white voting base on which the Republican Party thrives.

You have to appeal to other demographics. Democrats like Sanders appeal to young people, women, minorities, immigrants and the working class.  Republicans like Trump appeal to racist, misogynistic, rich, old, white men found at any country club.  And if the Republicans want to win the presidency back anytime soon, they better start moving past this bubble in which they seem to be stuck.