A beaming Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will peer out from the newstand shelves starting Friday. For the first time, Vermont's junior senator will grace the cover of Time magazine. 

There was a time when landing the cover of Time was really the big time. Magazines don't quite have the corner on the media market anymore, but for the upstart Democratic presidential candidate it's something to crow about.

"Bernie. Socialize this, America," Time's headline reads.

"I think it's a benchmark," said Sanders campaign consultant Tad Devine. "The fact that Bernie would get that kind of recognition means some very serious people in the media are paying attention to him."

Of course, Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has been on the cover at least 19 times, as first lady, senator, secretary of state and presidential aspirant. But it's not always been the happy, smiling, shirt-sleeve kind of cover Sanders is getting. In March, a silhouetted Clinton graced the cover with the headline, "The Clinton Way: They Write Their Own Rules."

And on Aug. 31, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made the cover.