Senator Bernie Sanders’ candidacy for the presidency of the United States is in full blossom, on tour with rousing speeches to standing room only extraordinarily motivated crowds. Senator Sanders, the tough-minded Independent with socialists’ tendencies, is labeled a long shot to win the Democratic nomination, especially in the face of the odds-on-favorite Hillary Clinton, whose political machinery is so well oiled that it is dripping.
But, maybe the former secretary of state is in for the surprise of her life as the senator’s message rings loud and clear with people standing on tip toes in lines reaching far outside of auditoriums. Similar to “Fighting Bob” Robert La Follette, a founder of the Progressive Movement in early 20th century America, “His basic aim was to protect the common man from the special interests,” Robert M. La Follette: Progressive Leader, U-S-History.com. History knows him as the most important and recognized leader of the opposition to growing dominance of corporations over the government.
Senator Sander’s speeches are consummately directed at Middle America whereby he declares the necessity and urgency of a political revolution. In all, he is the embodiment of the Progressive Movement 21st Century sequel. The political targets today are the same, and the socio-politico-economic circumstances are eerily similar, as today’s Gilded Age-Part II provides more than enough ammunition to motivate crowds into absolute frenzy. People get it!
Speaking in Minneapolis where more than 3700 people squeezed into a small gym, the senator said he would like to ask people to sit down, but there were no more chairs. His opening remark: “I think it is fair to say we are off to a strong start in this campaign, a campaign which is calling for a political revolution in this country,” a statement that led to thunderous, ear-splitting applause.
Ever the realist, the senator explained: “I heard the chants Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, but this is not about Bernie. It really is about you. And, when I talk about a political revolution, what everybody here has to understand is that the billionaire class and their representatives in Washington are so powerful that the best president in the world cannot defeat them alone. We need a mass movement of millions of people. A movement of people that stand up and say loudly and clearly that this great nation of ours and our government belong to all of the people and not just a handful of billionaires.”