With an eye on Wisconsin's Tuesday primary, Bernie Sanders told state Democratic Party officials Saturday night that his campaign and its fundraising methods -- not Hillary Clinton's -- represent the future of the party.
"We have received over six million individual campaign contributions averaging 27 dollars apiece -- I believe that is the future of the Democratic Party," Sanders told attendees at the Wisconsin Democratic Founders Day Gala at Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee.
The Vermont senator added, "I believe that we have got to tell Wall Street and the drug companies and the fossil fuel industry and all of the big money interests, 'Sorry we are not on your side, we don’t want your money.'"
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Throughout this election cycle, Sanders has used state party dinners, like the one Saturday night, to make his case as to why party officials should mobilize around him instead of Clinton. In addition to his small-donor fundraising model, Sanders stressed the energy and enthusiasm around his grassroots volunteers and the overwhelming backing his campaign enjoys among younger voters.
"There is one campaign which has created an enormous amount of excitement and enthusiasm, and that is our campaign,” Sanders said. “For the Democratic Party to succeed we need a vibrancy and we need an energy and we need a level of grassroots activism that we do not have at this moment.”
"We have got to do everything in our power to make sure that Donald Trump or some other Republican does not become president of the United States,” he said. "I happen to believe, based on all of the polling I have seen, and on other factors, that I am the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump. “
xBernie Sanders poses for pictures during an unannounced stop at Kopp's Frozen Custard in Milwaukee. pic.twitter.com/3KNnBI3CFJ
— John Wagner (@WPJohnWagner) April 2, 2016
