Summary

On May 26, 2015 in Burlington, Vermont, Sanders announced his formal decision to run for President of the United States. The body of his announcement speech is the entire body of this chapter. He uses his speech as a clear declaration of his campaign’s platform, titled, “Today We Begin a Political Revolution” (117). The first half of his speech focuses on what he thinks are the most important issues facing the U.S., and he concludes with his agenda if elected president.

The goal of Sanders’ revolution was “to transform our country economically, politically, socially, and environmentally” (117). He emphasizes that this presidential campaign was not about any particular candidate, but it was about “the needs of the American people, and the ideas and proposals that effectively address those needs” (118). The key issues Sanders’ campaign focused on would be income and wealth inequality, economics, Citizens...