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Sen. Bernie Sanders takes photos with supporters following a Monday speech in Cleveland.

(Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In Cleveland on Monday, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders railed against economic inequality, the influence of corporate America and argued for expansion of social safety-net programs.

In other words, Sanders' 30-minute speech, delivered at the Global Center for Health Innovation, wasn't all that different from the presidential campaign the independent, liberal firebrand from Vermont waged last year in his failed bid to secure the Democratic Party nomination.

Here are a few takeaways from the event, sponsored by the City Club of Cleveland:

Bernie lays out a progressive vision

Left reeling from Republican President Donald Trump's improbable victory in November, Sanders are other progressives are jostling to chart out a future path for liberals in America.

Although he fell short in his presidential bid, Sanders clearly has captured the energy of his party's young, liberal base.

On Monday, Sanders called for a series of policy proposals -- a $15 an hour national minimum wage, 12 weeks of guaranteed, paid family leave, tuition-free public college education and a "Medicare for all" single-payer healthcare system -- that are reminiscent of European-style social democracies. (Not to mention the 2016 Democratic National Convention platform that Sanders and his supporters pushed for.) He said the policies could be paid for by taxing the rich, or as he put it, making them pay their "fair share."

"It seems to me that our job is not to just oppose Trump's reactionary agenda. Although we've got to do that and we've got to do it vigorously," Sanders said. "... But in addition to that, what we need to do is put forth a progressive agenda that addresses the needs of working families in the country, an agenda that has a very different moral compass than that of President Trump.

Bernie 2020?

While it's very, very early in the next presidential campaign cycle, it's not too early for political journalists to try to read the tea leaves of what's coming next. The New York Times reported Sunday that Sanders is planning a July trip to Iowa, the first state to vote in presidential primary elections. And of course, Ohio is a quadrennial swing state and perhaps the epicenter of Trump's Rust Belt support.

So does that mean Sanders, 75, is positioning himself as a presidential candidate in 2020? His age makes that seem doubtful, but at the least, he looks as if he is trying to maintain his relatively newfound status as a national progressive icon to advance his ideas.

During a Q&A period following his speech, one "Draft Bernie" activist asked Sanders if he would commit to running for president in 2020. Former Ohio Sen. Nina Turner, the former Cleveland councilwoman who served as Sanders' introductory speaker, intervened and called a hasty end to the event, which was nearing its allotted time anyway.

"Everybody wants to draft the senator," Turner quipped. "Let's give the senator another round of applause!"

Turner 2018?

While she may not have meant it, there's double meaning in Turner's comment. Some Sanders supporters have pressed for Turner, a highly visible Sanders surrogate during last year's campaign, to run for governor in 2018. The Democratic field remains unsettled enough that Turner could make waves, were she to run.

If nothing else, Monday gave Turner, who left office at the end of 2014, an opportunity to keep her political relationship with Sanders fresh.

While introducing Sanders, Turner was effusive in her praise, saying he "pierced the consciousness of this country."

"He is, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, a doer of the deeds," Turner said.

And Sanders returned the love.

"I want you to know," Sanders told the audience, "that there are very few voices on the national stage who have spoken out for social justice, economic justice, racial justice and environmental justice with the force and the decency that Sen. Nina Turner has.

Sanders -- sort of -- dodges question on Quicken Loans Arena deal

Steve Holecko, an activist with the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, asked Sanders to take a position on the deal, signed last week by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, that would commit more than $132 million in taxpayer money to upgrade Quicken Loans Arena.

Holecko and his colleagues were collecting signatures at the Monday event to try to force a citywide referendum to block the deal.

"I don't want to get too much involved in a local issue," Sanders said. "But I will tell you this."

Sanders went on to describe, generally, his opposition toward deals that funnel taxpayer funds into sports facilities, which he said are to the benefit of team owners, who often are billionaires.

"I think it smacks to me of corporate welfare," Sanders said. "I think billionaires can fund their own endeavors. And when you talk about a city which has blight, a city with educational problems, I think what government should be doing is investing in the needs of working, local-income people."

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