Bernie Sanders faces the biggest test of his decades-long career this week.<br />The first Democratic debate of the 2016 presidential season on Tuesday offers Sanders his best chance to argue that his campaign is not merely a summertime lark fueled by fickle millennials, but instead a sturdy and battle-ready movement that can span 50 states and capture the nomination and the White House.<br />Ahead of the showdown in Las Vegas, Sanders spent the weekend making the case he's not out of the mainstream, repeatedly arguing that it's "not a radical idea" to think someone should be paid a livable wage or that students should not go into a lifetime of debt.<br />Hillary Clinton's failure to quiet the questions surrounding her use of a private e-mail account coupled with her establishment credentials have provided an opening for Sanders, who nearly matched her quarterly fundraising total with a $26 million haul.
