Jeremy "Jez" Corbyn and Bernie Sanders are very much alike, and so are their ambitions. Corbyn wants to lead Britain's Labour Party into the next election and become prime minister; Sanders wants to win the Democratic Party nomination and become the next president of the United States. And then each man plans to turn his country sharply to the left.
To the vast surprise of practically everybody, Corbyn has just achieved the first stage of his master plan: earlier this month he became the leader of the Labour Party. When he entered the leadership contest, the bookmakers were quoting odds of 200-1 against him, but he ended up winning the leadership by a landslide.
Sen. Sanders was also seen as a complete no-hoper when he threw his hat into the ring: 74 years old (Corbyn is 66), no money and no well-honed political machine behind him (ditto), and far too left-wing to win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, let alone the presidency. But something unexpected is also happening with Sanders's campaign.