Sanders Seeks a Revolution for the Democratic Party

By Michael Vinci 11/21/16

Bernie Sanders has entered the political spotlight following Hillary Clinton’s defeat. Sanders spoke to an audience of his supporters and threw the blame of Hillary Clinton’s loss on the Democratic establishment. Sanders’ view is that the DNC failed to engage effectively with the millions of middle-class Americans who had turned to Trump. He pointed out that the Democratic party failed to recognize that “there are millions and millions of people today, working-class people, middle-class people, who are living in despair,” a fact which Trump repeatedly made note of during his campaign.

The rally at which the former presidential candidate addressed his audience was originally intended as a protest against the Trans Pacific Partnership deal. The TPP was championed by President Obama but came under fire from not only progressives like Sanders, but Donald Trump as well. With Trump’s clear opposition to the TPP, the deal is very much dead. Sanders admitted he and Trump might find common ground on international financial reform.

The Vermont senator told CBS News, “Democrats have focused too much on a liberal elite, which has raised incredible sums of money from wealthy people but has ignored … the working class, middle class and low income-people in this country.” Sanders emphasized that Democrats need to recognize that millions of middle-class Americans are struggling on long hours and low wages and this is something that Donald Trump tapped into and ultimately won the Presidency.