Hundreds of people braved intense humidity at the Des Moines County Fairgrounds in West Burlington last night to hear a speech from the fastest-rising Democratic presidential candidate in the race.
As vendors stood outside the venue hawking T-Shirts and buttons, the crowd greeted Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described “Democratic Socialist” with thunderous applause.
“My friends, you do not live in a democracy. you live in a oligarchy, and we have to change that,” Sanders said, denouncing the 2010 Citizens United ruling that allowed for the creation of so-called “Super PACs”. Sanders was openly hostile towards rich corporate billionaires, blaming them for the majority of the country’s problems.
“They want more and more and more, their greed is uncontrollable,” Sanders said, “While they may not be able to control it, we are going to control it for them.”
He stressed plans for tuition-free education, higher taxation for the rich, mandated paid family and sick leave, and raising the minimum wage to $15/hour.
Thursday night’s event was the largest presidential event so far in the Burlington area.
According to the RealClearPolitics average, Sanders is 24 points behind Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton, who will be in Burlington on Monday at 40 and 8 park to meet with labor leaders at 4:00 pm.
A recent poll by the Des Moines Register, however, has Sanders within just seven points of Clinton in Iowa.
