The day after a string of primary victories pushed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton closer to the Democratic presidential nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders told supporters at two college town rallies in Indiana that he will stay in the race, because “the only way that we transform this country is through a political revolution.”
But even as Sanders said he was still seeking the nomination — with the help of super delegates if necessary — his campaign for the first time acknowledged a Plan B: a fight to influence the party platform when the Democratic National Convention is held in July.
“Our job is to think big,” Sanders said Wednesday night to 3,200 supporters at Indiana University-Bloomington. “Our job is to think outside the status quo.”
His fight will include a call for a $15 minimum wage, Sanders said, a Medicare-for-all public health care system, and an end to “disastrous trade policies” that he believes have sped the decline of American manufacturing. And he spoke at length about an issue that has become a signature of his populist campaign: income inequality, which he says comes from a “rigged economy” and a corrupt political system that gives wealthy donors more influence than voters.
“That is not democracy,” he said. ‘That is called oligarchy.”
“Together,” he added, “we are going to create an economy that works for all of us and not just the 1%.”
Sanders also — to cheers from the predominately student crowds at IU and Purdue University in West Lafayette — reiterated a call for free public college and a major restructuring of student debt, to be funded by $75 billion in Wall Street tax hikes.
At IU, the line of students waiting to get in stretched for blocks, filling the 3,200-seat IU Auditorium and then some. Another 2,200 attended the Purdue event earlier in the day.
Many at the two rallies said they'll stay loyal to Sanders at the polls, despite the recent losses.
"I mean it's kind of depressing, but I'll still vote for him," Purdue freshman Caleb Torgerson said.
"There's always hope," added Lafayette resident Bob Gleason.
At campaign stops across the state on Tuesday, Clinton signaled a desire to grow manufacturing jobs in the state, while her husband, former President Bill Clinton, looked to outflank the Sanders on his signature issue of income inequality with a slew of policy proposals.
While Sanders’ college affordability plans played well on the two campuses, his stance on trade may be what makes or breaks his campaign in Indiana.
Sanders has earned the endorsement of United Steelworkers Local 1999, the labor organization that represents the 1,400 Carrier employees in Indianapolis that are losing their jobs in the plant’s upcoming move to Mexico.
Sanders on Wednesday took aim at Carrier for laying off workers while the company itself is wildly profitable. “That is the type of corporate greed that is destroying the American middle class,” he said.
But while his campaign has exceeded expectations — Sanders recalled media coverage a year ago describing him as a “fringe candidate” — its prospects for victory appear increasingly bleak.
Clinton's current delegate count, including unpledged super delegates, is at 2,151 and Sanders is at 1,338, according to the Associated Press. A candidate needs 2,384 delegate votes to win the Democratic nomination.
On Wednesday, the shift in Sanders’ strategy took the form of more than just words. The New York Times reported the campaign planned to lay off hundreds of staffers nationwide as it shifted its focus to the national convention.
But at IU, there was no talk of uniting behind Clinton, or admitting defeat.
“We’re doing something very unusual in contemporary American politics. We are telling the truth,” Sanders said. “That is what this campaign is about — it is about having the courage to (tackle) the very real problems that we face.”
