Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Calls for ‘Political Revolution’ in Ft Madison

Democratic Presidential Candidate and Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders told supporters in Fort Madison that he wanted to be the impetus for a so-called “Political Revolution”, as he attempts to gain on Frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

533 people attended Sunday evening’s rally to hear Sanders speak at Richardson Elementary School. He railed against the so-called “oligarchy” in America and says he wants to expand the number of people involved in the political process.

“When large numbers of young people and working people come out and vote.. guess what happens? Democrats win the house, they win the senate, they win the White House, and they win Governor’s chairs all across the country,” Sanders said, “So what this campaign is about is bringing a sense of excitement to bring millions of people into the political process.”

Sanders said his supporters are making history with the level of contributions to the campaign, which consist almost entirely of small donations. Sanders told the enthusiastic crowd Sunday night, “we have 650,000 individuals who have contributions, an average of some $30 a piece, more than any other campaign in history. And we are one of the few campaigns out there that does not have a Superpack.”

Sanders then touched on some issues like income inequality, calling the economy “rigged”. He promised to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and claims that once a person makes enough, they will turn around and start spending money and that spending money in turn creates more jobs.

Sanders has for his presidential goal to use the tax money collected from Wall Street Speculation to fund education and to end tax loopholes for corporations and instead invest in “America’s deteriorating infrastructure.” Sanders, a self-described “Democratic Socialist”, says that his ideas are not radical, citing similar programs in other countries.

Sanders believes that the redistribution of wealth has been going in the wrong direction for the last forty years and that he is here to “reverse that flow.” Sanders says that, “reversing the flow” means, “revitalizing American democracy, getting more people to participate, real campaign reform, creating millions of jobs by rebuilding our infra-structure. Making public colleges and universities tuition free, moving toward healthcare for all as a right, protecting women’s rights and gay rights.

Sanders is second in the National RealClearPolitics average, 20 points behind Clinton. He’s 11 points behind Clinton in Iowa and ahead of the Former Secretary of State in New Hampshire by five points.