Bernie Sanders, the insurgent left-wing challenger to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary, touted his campaign’s early success in Iowa Saturday, arguing that he has drawn on voter frustration to become a viable candidate.
Speaking at the Iowa State Fair, the self-proclaimed socialist senator from Vermont said that “everybody said that this campaign was a joke” when it began three and a half months ago. “Who believes that the American people are prepared to take on the economic and political establishment of America?” he asked rhetorically.
“And three and a half months have gone by, we have had huge crowds all over America. In Iowa, New Hampshire, California, Oregon — you name it,” he said. “And when people ask me why, what I tell them is the American people are saying that enough is enough. This country belongs to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires.”
Sanders then launched into his stump speech for the crowd of several hundred at the “soapbox” speech coordinated by the Des Moines Register, decrying the United States’ lack of paid family and sick leave, calling for an expansion of Social Security, and saying that he would require all candidates for Supreme Court nominations to pledge to oppose the Citizens United decision if he were elected.
The afternoon crowd assembled for Sanders was easily larger than those for the two candidates earlier in the day, namely former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, a Republican, and former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, a Democrat.
Sanders has consistently attracted massive crowds for his campaign, including this week when a reported 28,000 gathered in Portland, Ore., to hear him speak.
Those large crowds have translated into better polling numbers for Sanders. This week, a Boston Herald/Franklin Pierce University poll showed him leading Clinton in New Hampshire. Nevertheless, Clinton still enjoys a 35-point lead over Sanders in national polling, according to the RealClearPolitics average.
Clinton also visited the Iowa State Fair Saturday, although she did not give a speech at the soapbox.
Sanders did not address Clinton in his speech, instead focusing on warning the crowd that the American middle class is disappearing.
