Is Bernie Sanders the leader we've been waiting for?

Do you ever get so frustrated with an ongoing situation that you give up trying to resolve it? Such a national frustration is being called to attention with great clarity and interest in America as we speak.

This involves Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigning for president on the Democratic ticket. On July 1, Sen. Sanders drew 10,000 people into the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin. This was the largest crowd drawn by any candidate in 2015.

What is so compelling about the Sanders message? He’s attracting increasingly larger and larger crowds as the weeks go on. He’s calling for a grassroots political revolution The crowds are enthusiastic and loving it. Why?

Could it be that Americans, especially our young people, are waking up and coming alive? Is the possibility of taking our country back through this grassroots political revolution catching on? Can the likes of a Bernie Sanders’ leadership actually restore our political system to one that actually represents the will of the people? Apparently increasing numbers think so.

Some things on the horizon: Grassroots power. Democracy triumphing over plutocracy. The people’s will supplanting big money’s will. Honest service over greed. Legislative integrity over partisan mudslinging. United States of America instead of Divided States of America. Bernie Sanders says in his speeches, “This political revolution is not about me, Hillary or anyone else. It is about you.” This to thunderous applause.

Recall John Lennon’s lyrics to “Imagine”: “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.”

This sense of hope and change runs deep and true in our younger people’s hearts and minds, for sure. And they are listening with renewed enthusiasm and a sense of participation and commitment. That’s what grassroots movements are all about. And it happens from the ground up.

The time is now and the frustrations are real. Once a leadership-for-change emerges and motivates and moves The People to action, the frustrations and feeling of hopelessness are replaced with dynamic and positive change. —Bob McClellan, Polson