Amy Wu

The Californian

Traffic stopped, foot traffic snarled, and lengthy queues of people jammed the sidewalks in downtown Monterey. Bernie Sanders was in town.

The Democratic presidential candidate’s visit to Monterey on Tuesday night attracted a crowd of 7,800, many of them supporters.

An energetic Sanders, 74, was surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd that packed the front lawn of historic Colton Hall. The crowds frequently cheered for the senator throughout his speech.

During his hour-long stump, voters waved a variety of signs from Sanders’ campaign slogan, “A future to believe in” to “You’re my boy Bernie.”

“I want to open up doors of the Democratic Party so everyone feels open coming in,” Sanders said to the crowd that gave him a red carpet welcome.

In his Monterey speech, Sanders addressed a wide spectrum of platforms from the economy, jobs, climate change, healthcare, fracking, the working class, immigrants, working mothers, gay marriage, healthcare and voiced his support for ethnic groups including Latinos, African Americans and Native Americans.

But the core of the Sanders’ speech was clear. In zeroing in on key platform issues, he stressed that he’s running a campaign that is anti-establishment. He has chosen to steer clear of support from Wall Street, big pharma and large corporations.

“The establishment has betrayed the American people, and now is the time for real change,” said Sanders. “Our job is to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1 percent, an economy that works for the middle class, the children, the elderly and for the poor. That is our economy.”

Change was a repeated if not pivotal theme in his speech. His campaign he said has united people “to fight for real change in this country.”

Within the theme of change, “we need a political party and movement of millions of working people and young people who are actively involved. We should not be taking money from Wall Street we should be taking Wall Street on.”

He reminded the crowd that what started as a fringe campaign has expanded rapidly.

In addressing various issues he repeatedly spoke against a “corrupt campaign finance system.” Sanders said his campaign has steered clear of raising money from billionaires and large corporations, pointing out that his opponent Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has raised millions through the channels he’s skirted.

Sanders said his campaign to date has received 8 million donors, the majority of them who have contributed an average of $27.

Throughout his speech, he blasted big corporations for what he calls a “rigged economy.” In an interview just before his speech, Sanders said he believes he will win the vote in California.

Seeking the California vote

Sanders said the state is critical to his campaign, and he was confident he would get the vote.

He said: “I think we are going to win here in California and if we win here, and in South Dakota, and North Dakota, and Montana and New Mexico and New Jersey and Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., we are going to be going into the Democratic National Convention at the end of July … I believe we will leave that convention with the Democratic nomination.”

Sanders said, “I think the people in Monterey County and California understand that there is something wrong with our country when we have a corrupt campaign finance system in which billionaires are buying elections, in which we have a rigged economy where the rich get richer and everyone else gets poorer.”

He said he believes the universal minimum wage should be $15 so that families can afford services such as child care.

“Equal pay for equal work is what we need for this country,” he said.

Unlike Clinton’s speech in Salinas on May 25 at Hartnell College in Salinas, Sanders’ speech was lengthier, touched upon a greater number of key platforms, and he only alluded to Republican front-runner Donald J. Trump a few times.

Unlike Clinton, Sanders addressed climate change and said if elected he will replace fossil fuel with sustainable energy. He is also against fracking, which has been a hot button issue here in Monterey County.

“Now is the time to end fracking,” he said.

Within the context of family values, Sanders said he also supports gay and lesbian marriage.

Like Clinton, Sanders said he is a staunch believer that higher education and training leads to a more knowledge based economy, and will make Americans more competitive in a global economy and bolster a healthy economy. He supports tuition-free colleges and universities, and finding ways to significantly lower student debt.

He is also supports immigration reform that would end the current deportation policy, and support citizenship.

“The function of immigration reform should be to unite families not divide families,” he said. He supports a “Medicare for all healthcare system.”

While Sanders exuded confidence, he said beyond attracting votes for his campaign it was important to support the Democratic Party. He said it is important “that we have a candidate that will defy Donald Trump,” he said.

Monterey was one of the numerous stops Sanders is making in California, as he seeks to attract more voters in the state. Earlier on Tuesday he visited Santa Cruz, and on Wednesday morning Sanders will give a press conference on fracking in Spreckels, just outside of Salinas.

Clinton and Trump have both been trying to drum up votes in California. Clinton extended campaigning in the state from June 2 to June 6, and Trump was in Fresno on Sunday.

Contact Government Reporter Amy Wu at 831-754-4285 or awu@thecalifornian.com. Follow Wu on Twitter @wu_salnews orwww.facebook.com/amywucalifornian.