American Politics the 2016 edition

Eh...IDK, Bernie did well with the voters under 45, like had a slight lead in that regard (and makes sense to me, people under 45 have kids that will be going to college, or have been working for a while and have seen their standard of living declining) but yes the under 30 bloc and especially the early 20s have had a fire lighted under their ass. I guess I just object to the speed thing since I've seen this slowly building since 2006 and a lot of what Sanders says reminds me of Obama 08,  but I get what you mean. 

Being in that bloc (though I'm now pushing closer to 30) I can say lots of people I know are kinda bipolar politically They alternate between Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul. On a day to day basis sometimes people sound like 19th century capitalists, the next rabid socialists, and views are all over the place. I think many young people are confused and alienated. Libertarianism is an idea that's inherently popular with many of us, so is (now) Social Democracy. Like I say, Dems would be wise to capitalize on this and fast. As you say they were caught off guard by the speed, but they better get a hand on the train and slow it down to pull it in or maybe a future Republican Party can lure it in with libertarianism. 

And I will say, the progressive wing has always been around. The number has not been insignificant either and the Congressional Progressive Caucus currently has 68 members (out of 435) in the house, and while the only official one in the Senate is Sanders, 4 other Senators were former members. Unless you mean waaaaay back in the day, but I generally think of the Democratic Party as being liberal/labor focused until pretty much the late 80s. Unless you mean socially but like I said, I can accept differences in social issues many of which grow from the state level anyway. Though I do applaud people like Sanders and the CPC who have always stood by gay rights for example, even when it was politically unacceptable. 

Sadly true, people are yearning for honesty, "realness", sincerity.

Trump is absolutely none of that BUT you have a point he is so OTT and blatant and doesn't even pretend...it's almost like is honest about his dishonesty. Clinton and co always have legally tight lines, stories, ways to technically be right and it's a major turn off to people. Given two dishonest choices, many do seem willing to pick the one who at least doesn't hide from it. 

And since half of Trump's campaign is simply a protest against being "PC" and stuff like that, it is indeed a very hot selling point. I'd be lying if I said it didn't happen on the other side. People that I'm quite sure are not really feeling the Bern, liked him because he was "badass" and "that crazy Uncle that's right" and his honesty/freshness/up front nature. People find it refreshing (and ya know he was at least fairly honest, sincere and doesn't employ racism)