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 In a long-promised speech meant to ease the concerns of some
voters about the "socialist" label, Sanders cited former President
Franklin Roosevelt's Depression-era policies to put Americans back
to work and provide a broad social safety net as the model for his
democratic socialist agenda.
"Our government belongs to all of us, not just a handful of
billionaires," Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, said in a
speech at Georgetown University. "We need to develop a political
movement which, once again, is prepared to take on and defeat a
ruling class whose greed is destroying our nation."
Sanders said Roosevelt's programs to create jobs and lift Americans
out of poverty during the Great Depression, including the Social
Security retirement program, the concept of a minimum wage, the
40-hour work week and strong banking regulations, were all called
"socialist" at the time.
 "Yet these programs have become the fabric of our nation and the
foundation of the middle class," he said.
Sanders, who has long described himself as a democratic socialist,
trails Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in polls but has
galvanized the party's liberal wing with his calls for greater
income equality, free college tuition and a break-up of the big
banks.
But he has acknowledged the socialist tag makes some voters nervous
with its Cold War-era images of government-controlled economies, and
that he needed to ease those worries in order to expand his support
and convince Democrats he can be a viable nominee in the November
2016 presidential election.
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Sanders cited Roosevelt's 1944 call for a second Bill of Rights that
would guarantee economic security for all Americans. He said his
version of democratic socialism would end tax breaks for
corporations, put millions of Americans back to work rebuilding the
infrastructure, raise the minimum wage to $15 and create a
single-payer, Medicare-style healthcare plan for all.
"The next time you hear me attacked as a socialist, remember this: I
don’t believe government should own the means of production, but I
do believe that the middle class and the working families who
produce the wealth of America deserve a fair deal," he said.
For more on the 2016 U.S. presidential race and to learn about the
undecided voters who determine elections, visit the Reuters website.
(http://www.reuters.com/election2016/the-undecided/)
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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