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What Bernie Sanders thinks about the issues: a comprehensive primer

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, now a presidential candidate, is the only socialist in Congress. But "he's a 'small S' socialist," professor Garrison Nelson of the University of Vermont told me last year. "He's not, 'Let's totally revamp the government, break up the corporations, create five-year plans.' He doesn't get out too far on an ideological limb."

Sanders resembles many in the Democratic Party by criticizing the excessive influence of the wealthy. But he takes things much further, both rhetorically and substantively — he thinks checking the power of billionaires and corporations is the defining issue in US politics today. He's most interested in economic issues, from inequality to trade, and as a result he's won a devoted following among liberals who think their party too frequently carries water for the rich.

But while Sanders wants a single-payer health care system, a carbon tax, and much more government spending on infrastructure and benefits, he isn't an uber-liberal on everything. On social issues like abortion, gun rights, and gay rights, he is squarely within the mainstream of the Democratic Party — not to its left. And while he's suspicious of foreign wars, he voices sympathy with Israel's security concerns and warns of the dangers of ISIS. Here's a guide to his views.