Sanders pushes for income equality in Davenport campaign stop

DAVENPORT - In Bernie Sanders' first visit to the Quad Cities on Thursday since announcing his candidacy for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination last month, the independent Vermont senator drew hundreds of supporters.

At the end of a busy day of campaigning in the Iowa Quad Cities, Sanders held a town-hall-style gathering at St. Ambrose University.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania both made stops in Davenport earlier in the day.

Saying he was surprised with the number of people in attendance, the longest-serving independent member of Congress in U.S. history told the 500-plus person crowd his campaign isn't all about him.

'This campaign is not about Bernie Sanders, it's not about Jeb Bush and it's not about Hillary Clinton. It's about you, and these young people up here,” Sanders said signaling to a panel of three college students he later invited to speak to the audience.

Sanders started his speech, which last just over 50 minutes, by addressing the state of the country's economy, calling for a shift in wealth and income inequality.

'What we have got to do is to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the top one percent,” he said.

Sanders' ideas for a better economy included a boost in minimum wage. Additionally, he pledged to create more jobs - 13 million 'decent paying” jobs - through a trillion dollar public works program to fix 'our crumbling infrastructure.”

As of Thursday, he and Hillary Clinton are the only two Democrats to announce their candidacy.

While Sanders reportedly has hired a dozen staff members and raised about $4 million toward a $50 million goal over the next 10 months, he pleaded for campaign finance reform, and promoted public funding of elections.

'Billionaires should not be able to buy elections,” he said.

If elected, the 73-year-old senator would become the oldest person in history to become president.

His crowd inside the Rogalski Center, however, included Quad-Citians in every age group.

As he introduced his argument for free higher education, Sanders invited the three students to share their experiences paying for college. He said he wants to eliminate tuition at public colleges and universities nationwide and pay for it by taxing Wall Street.

'The American people bailed out Wall Street; it's time for Wall Street to help the middle class of this country,” he said.