Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, on his first trip to Iowa after announcing he’ll run for president, on March 7, 2019, in Council Bluffs. Kelsey Kremer, kkremer@dmreg.com
Council Bluffs, Ia. — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders kicked off his second Iowa campaign the same way he concluded his first.
He railed against Wall Street.
He criticized billionaires and the growing chasm between the nation’s rich and poor.
He jabbed his right hand in the air, pointing in revulsion as he talked about the high costs of prescription drugs and medical care.
“With your help, we are going to transform this country and create an economy and a government that works for all of us, not just the 1 percent,” Sanders said on Thursday, echoing the crux of his last presidential campaign.
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But the 77-year-old senator from Vermont launched his 2020 Iowa campaign miles ahead of where he began before the 2016 Iowa caucuses, when he challenged former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a political outsider.
Sanders walked onto the stage at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs Thursday evening as a frontrunner: A December Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll showed the senator polling at 19 percent, second only to former Vice President Joe Biden, who was the preferred candidate for 32 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers polled.
Three years ago, Sanders called for a “political revolution” fueled by working and middle-class Americans. Those same themes ran throughout his nearly hour-long speech in front of 2,000 rowdy supporters in western Iowa.
More: Iowa Poll: Biden, Sanders top early look at possible Democratic hopefuls in 2020 caucuses
While Sanders has not abandoned his long-held political platform, he said his policy proposals — like instituting a $15-per-hour federal minimum…
