“Not me. Us.”  Those are the three words that perfectly sum up what Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, is all about. In every interview he takes part in, he never says “I,” it’s always “we.” The “political revolution” that he talks about is not and never will be just about him; it is all about the people who support the ideas he has put forward. Ideas like moving toward public funding of elections and breaking up the big banks with a reincarnation of Glass-Steagall legislation so that “too big to fail” becomes “too big to exist.”

Sander’s passion and unwavering dedication to his ideals are legendary. For example, he has stood up for LGBT rights and women’s rights for decades (check out his response to a homophobic comment in the House in 1995 and his page on women’s rights). He has also long been a proponent for ending institutional racism — he even attended Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington. Plenty of videos of him saying the same things about income inequality and the middle class since 1980 also exist on YouTube. For 35 years, Sanders has stood for the same things and has not been afraid to say so.

When it comes to policy, Sanders stands up for the middle class and people who feel disenfranchised by the system. His new tax plan will raise taxes on the richest people in our country and the large corporations (no, not at 90 percent) to provide things that everyone deserves. 

Things like a single-payer health care system, tuition-free college funded by tax on Wall Street, moving away from oil and toward renewable energy sources, creating a federal jobs program to get millions of people back to work, rebuilding our country’s crumbling infrastructure and reinstating Glass-Steagall are all things that he has stood behind for years. Single-payer health care and tuition-free college already exist in one way or another in most other major countries, but for some reason they do not here in the United States. These are things that people should have a right to no matter their income, since healthcare and tuition costs have risen to crippling levels that many families cannot pay.

Our country has come to a point where people (particularly us millennials) feel like our votes, our views, our hopes and dreams do not matter. We feel like we do not make a difference. But a Sanders presidency would help to change that. The influence of big money in politics has reached a fever pitch — Super PACs and large donors practically run our country. Sanders wants to end this by repealing Citizens United, which would end Super PACs, along with a few other changes to the election system. One vote is one vote, and the amount of money you have should not influence the outcome of an election.

Sanders’ campaign is already showing the effects of this new emphasis on people-powered campaigning. He has received over 2.5 million individual contributions from people just like us. His average donation hovers just under $30, and he is raising almost as much as Hillary Clinton, who receives much more money from special interests like Wall Street banks and oil companies. His campaign was made by the people and for the people — something this country was founded on. The most interesting part of this is that Sanders’ support from millennials and younger voters eclipses that of Clinton’s. 

Sanders represents a change from politics as usual, something that has not only gotten the support of many of us millennials, but also has gotten us to volunteer for his campaign and even create student organizations supporting him.

Sanders said himself that our campaign is based on a “political revolution.” He cannot do any of this alone. We as a country need to stand up and defiantly say, “this is our country.” We need to not only vote for Sanders, but to get as many progressive candidates into our government as possible. No more voting for a president and forgetting about midterm elections.  

So if you believe in Sanders ideas, vote for him in Wisconsin’s primary on April 5.  Do not let anyone tell you what is or is not possible — Sanders’ numbers have been steadily rising for months, and he is poised to win in New Hampshire and possibly Iowa. We can finally do what we think is right and bring an end to the pragmatic “no, we can’t” attitude of Washington and bring some idealism back to a country.

Zachary Druckery ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in history and political science.