Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders was in Richmond last night, first for a reception and then the Richmond Memorial Auditorium where he fired up a standing room only overflow audience of at least 500 people. Sanders warned of the loss of the middle class in America, the migration of wealth to the one percent, and the pernicious influence of huge amounts of money in politics. He invoked the Koch Brothers and urged Richmond to resist Chevron’s attempt to buy City Hall.
“Chevron is trying to buy the Richmond City Hall,” said Sanders. “ We can’t let them get away with it. This is not what democracy is supposed to be about.” 
He went on to warn, “ The Koch Brothers are trying to buy the Senate.” He called for a constitutional amendment to overturn the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision which opened the floodgates for money in politics.
The Giants may have won over in San Francisco, but Sanders hit a home run in Richmond.
I was asked to help introduce Senator Sanders, and, as a Vietnam veteran, I thanked him for his leadership as chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.