SPRINGFIELD – Social Democrat and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders rallied with his western Massachusetts supporters Saturday, October 3 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

The Vermont Senator spoke about classism in American and a necessary shift in the system.

“No President of the United States can do what has to be done to rebuild the crumbling middle class in this country, unless we have a political revolution,” he said

The crowd was filled with high energy. From the volunteers handing out “Feel the Bern” stickers at the door to the participants chanting with signs throughout the arena, everyone involved was excited to be at the event.

“This is what democracy looks like!” shouted the crowd before Sanders took the stage.

Although Sanders is known for appealing to the younger generations, people of all ages came out to support the politician.

Larry Libow, 66, is a longtime supporter of Sanders.

“He’s a people’s candidate,” said Libow.

Libow, a Springfield native who attended the same elementary school in Brooklyn as Sanders, hypothesized that baby boomers like himself are a part of the older population listening to Sanders.

“The baby boomers are going to support Bernie because we have the same attitudes about the way this country should be run,” he said.

Libow noted the connection between the baby boomer generation fighting for change in the 1960s and today’s youth fighting for similar changes.

Sanders realized the power of the people.

“Our campaign is a different type of campaign. It’s a grassroots campaign that is not only to elect someone to be President of the United States, but to build a political movement,” Sanders said.

College students came out in packs to listen to Sanders. Those in attendance were from American International College along with plenty from the five college consortium: UMass Amherst, Hampshire, Smith, Mount Holyoke and Amherst.

According to MassLive, around 6,000 people filled the arena at the MassMutual Center.

Jeremy Antivo, a senior at AIC, was shocked when he heard Sanders was coming to Springfield.

“He’s very active on social media,” said Antivo. “I’ve seen a bunch of his Facebook videos and I like what he says.”

Sanders was not the only speaker that excited the crowd. A sophomore from Brandeis University spoke about the cost of education in America followed by an environmentalist who spoke about Sanders’ long-term dedication to preserving the environment.

Sanders spoke for about an hour on topics including free public education and health care along with stabilizing the environment and economy.

His anti-rich politics including spreading America’s wealth and taking the big money out of politics is what brought many supporters together Saturday.

Sanders stated that Wall Street has too much power over America and the crowd shouted, “Enough is enough!”

Jessica Gionet, 44, of Winchendon, Mass. came to the rally with her son and a sign that read “Bernie 4 99% of us.”

Other signs read “Medicare for all” and “equal pay for women.”

Saturday’s rally was the first of two in Massachusetts. Sanders spoke to the people of Boston later in the evening.

“The rally was amazing. I was surprised so many people showed up,” said Antivo.