A boisterous crowd of about 7,000 people welcomed Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to Birmingham on Monday during a campaign rally, and despite the chants of "Bernie, Bernie, Bernie," the independent Vermont senator said his campaign is about "You, You, You."

Sanders, who has been neck and neck in the polls with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, alluded to how he started his campaign with hardly any support but has closed the gap since the summer. He's now ahead of Clinton in New Hampshire and within striking distance of her in Iowa.

"When we began we were 50 points behind the inevitable Democratic nominee," he said. "Well, guess what? That inevitable candidate ain't so inevitable today."

Beyond the early primary states, the so-called SEC Primary on March 1, which includes Alabama and several other southern states, will take place. Sanders appealed to the crowd for their support and expressed confidence that he could overtake Clinton here.

"I think we'll do pretty well in Alabama on March 1," he said, adding that he believed the state's electoral history belies what's best for Alabamians.

"We have got to go out to our white working class friends ... and we have got to go out to our brothers and sisters there and say, 'Stop voting against your own best interest,'" he said.

In a wide-ranging speech where Sanders touched on his campaign platforms of income inequality, single-payer health care, free college tuition, a $15 an hour minimum wage, equal pay for women and mandated medical and family leave, the northeasterner also acknowledged the moxie of his supporters in a red state.

"The challenge that you face -- and I respect you so much -- is the work that you have got to do is more difficult than the work in my state," Sanders said before launching into an attack on Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley - a reference that elicited a chorus of boos in Birmingham.

"When the governor of this state refuses to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, he's impacting not [just] blacks, but he's impacting whites, he's impacting Latinos, he's impacting everybody," the presidential candidate said.

The speech fell on the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, and Sanders told the crowd of how he participated in the March on Washington in 1963, when he was a student at the University of Chicago.

"I can remember the day in my mind's eye right this moment. It was an extraordinary day that has left a lasting impression on my life," he said before telling the crowd that is was imperative that King's life be remembered more than as a "museum piece."

"To truly honor the life of Dr. King we must fight to carry out his radical and bold vision for America," Sanders said to cheers.

The Democratic presidential candidate, who is neck and neck with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the polls, said that what King fought for "is exactly what this campaign is about."

Sanders said his campaign was larger than him, and said he would need his supporters to continue their enthusiasm should he be elected president, because the "corporate media" and the wealthy are powerful enough to derail his agenda if voters don't elect congressional representatives that share Sanders's vision.

He said the American middle class, "once the envy of this world, has been disappearing."

"Today in Alabama, today in Vermont, you got moms working, dads working, kids working three jobs just to cobble together income and health care," he said. "We are going to create an economy that works for the middle class, not the billionaire class."

That billionaire class is exploiting its workers at the expense of profits, Sanders said.

"I know that people in Alabama and all over this country hear a lot about welfare. Let me tell you who the biggest welfare cheat is in America -- it's the Walton family of Walmart. You know why? Because many of their workers are paid wages so low they have to get Medicaid, they have to get food stamps, they have to get subsidized housing," he said.

The crowd booed the Walton family -- "You are familiar with Walmart," Sanders responded after the Bronx cheers . He pointed out that the billionaire family has more wealth than bottom 40 percent of the American people

"I got a message for the Walton family: 'Get off of welfare pay your workers a living wage,'" he said. "We're going to help them do that because we have the wild and crazy idea that if you work 40 hours a week in America you should not be living in poverty."

In a dig at conservatives, Sanders said "family values" should help strengthen families.

"Our view when I talk about family values -- and we got to end the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major country that doesn't guarantee paid family and medical leave," he said.

Sanders said those family values also extend to children, who he said shouldn't have their chances at a college education derailed because of their family's financial situation.

"Our job is to tell every child in this country, every parent in this country, every teacher in this country that if every child works hard, does well, that kid, regardless of family income, will get a college education," he said.

The Democratic presidential candidate had to pause his speech for about 10 minutes after someone in the crowd needed medical attention. He then segued into health care, lamenting that the U.S. "remains the only major country on earth that doesn't guarantee health care to all people as a right." While Sanders said the Affordable Care Act was an important first step toward that goal, he advocated for a single-payer system that would cover all Americans.

Turning to climate change, Sanders said there was no debate about its existence - except in the Republican Party. He used the opportunity to take a shot at frontrunner Donald Trump, who said climate change was a hoax invented by the Chinese.

"Donald Trump has a brilliant analysis -- you can never underestimate what Donald Trump will say," Sanders said. "I thought it would be the Mexicans, but it's the Chinese. Not even Muslims, just the Chinese."

Birmingham resident and rally attendee Amanda Palmer, who said she hoped that Sanders would have ran for president earlier.

"He's the only person in politics that I can say that I trust," she said. "It's time for a revolution."