Bernie Sanders clutches progressive platform in Democratic primary

With his outwardly progressive political platform and "no-nonsense" rhetorical style, Bernie Sanders has gone from a typically niche political personality to a driving force within the Democratic Party. 

The senator from Vermont holds the solid second place spot in his party’s presidential primary race, but there’s a lot about Bernie Sanders that people may not know.

Here is where Sanders stands on some of the major issues:

Education: Those who have the desire deserve access to higher education

Sanders resents the notion that college is a privilege, not a right. Speaking to HuffPost Live at the beginning of April, he said, "I think what we need to do is say yes, higher education should be a right. Not for everybody, people who have the ability, people who have the desire, because that makes our country stronger."

When it comes to free college, Sanders said, "The folks who control the politics in America, the people who control the media aren’t particularly interested in that discussion. They’re doing just fine. The top one-tenth of 1 percent owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. 'What's your problem? Things are going just great.'"

Sanders also added that Denmark is doing something right by providing universal healthcare and mostly free higher education.

"But that's democratic socialism," Sanders continued. "We don't want to talk about that, do we? We love the current system, where we have massive wealth and inequality."

Immigration: Supports the DREAM Act, but skeptical about some foreigners working in the United States

While Sanders supports the rights of children whose parents enter the country illegally, he told The Washington Post in 2013 that he is skeptical of some guest worker programs.

"What I do not support is, under the guise of immigration reform, a process pushed by large corporations which results in more unemployment and lower wages for American workers," he told the publication. "You have massively high unemployment for young people, yet we're talking about expanding visas so that young people from abroad can serve as life guards, become ski instructors, become front desk people, when young people in this country desperately need jobs to pay for college education ... I'm very dubious about the need to bring foreign unskilled labor into this country. These are kids, young high school graduates, and the unemployment rate is just extremely high. I do not understand why they cannot hire those people and need foreign labor."

For undocumented immigrants currently in America, Senator Sanders is both a supporter of the DREAM Act and is opposed on many deportations. Last September, Sanders criticized President Obama for pushing back an executive order that would delay the deportation process while immigration activists cheered Sanders' continual pursuit of immigration justice. 

Activist Monica Reyes said in a statement, "Unlike Hillary Clinton, Senator Sanders showed he understood the urgency to keep families together, though was still sensitive to the political complexity."

Marijuana: Supports medical marijuana, but no legalization for recreational use

Sanders has voiced support for medicinal marijuana use before, and he's also aware of the fact that an increasing number of millennials want the substance legalized.

"It is a trend, but I think it has a lot of political support from young people especially," Sanders told Time magazine last year. "It probably will continue to move forward. Colorado led the way. Other states I expect will follow. I have supported the increased use of marijuana for medical purposes, and I can tell you when I was Mayor of the City of Burlington, which includes the University of Vermont, I don’t recall that anybody was arrested for marijuana use. And I have real concerns about implications of the War on Drugs that we have been engaged in for decades now with a huge cost and the destruction of a whole lot of lives of people who were never involved in any violent activities."

Though he smoked pot when he was young, Sanders wouldn't outright advocate for recreational marijuana use, as he feels the U.S. has more pressing issues to address right now.

"I’m going to look at the issue," he said. "It’s not that I support it or don’t support it. To me it is not one of the major issues facing this country. I’ll look at it. I think it has a lot of support and I’ll be talking to young people and others about the issues. But there are two sides to a story."

Environment: Believes the environment has a direct effect on the economy and international peace efforts, needs major attention from U.S. and United Nations

In 2012, Sanders took to the Senate floor to blast Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) for doubting the severity of climate change. Because of Inhofe's seniority in the Republican party, Sanders feared his climate change skepticism would sway conservatives to avoid doing anything about the crisis at hand.

"The bottom line is that when Senator Inhofe says global warming is a hoax, he is just dead wrong, according to the vast majority of climate scientists," Sanders said. “For better or worse, when Sen. Inhofe speaks, the Republican Party follows. And when the Republican Party follows, it is impossible to get real work done in the Congress."

In 2007, Sanders and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) introduced the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2007, which aimed to set out "a road map of targets, requirements and incentives that EPA will use to reduce U.S. emissions and help stabilize global atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases," according to Sanders's website.

Social Issues: Supports gay marriage, racial equality, separate church and state

Sanders is a known supporter of gay marriage. In the 1990s, he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which permitted states to refuse to acknowledge same-sex marriages that were granted in other states.

So when the Supreme Court heard arguments about its constitutionality in 2013, Sanders said, "I hope the court strikes down the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. It was a bad idea when it was enacted in 1996. That’s why I voted against the law in the first place and why I am a cosponsor today of a bill to repeal the discriminatory law."

While Sanders — who is Jewish — believes everyone should have the right to practice religion freely. He has been a strong opponent of Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 

Although the law was written to allow individuals and companies to assert that their exercise of religion as an act of freedom, during a PBS interview, Sanders said, "Bosses should not be able to impose their religious beliefs on their employees. Denying customers based on religious beliefs is not what this country is about."

Islamic State: Eliminate ISIS, support refugees

After terrorist attacks in Paris, Sanders called for a concerted international effort to defeat the Islamic State and “eliminate the stain of ISIS from this world.” 

The senator also denounced “cheap political talk” and “demagoguery and fear mongering.” He urged Americans not to “turn our backs on refugees” fleeing the terrorist organization, according to his campaign website.

“Every American has been appalled and disgusted by the attack against the people of Paris by the terrorist organization ISIS. I know all of us send our condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones. And we pray for the recovery of all those who were injured, many of them seriously,” Sanders told an audience of more than 7,000 at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center.

Sanders also stressed that the focus on the Islamic State must not divert attention from critically important issues at home in the United States. 

“I understand there are some who think that because of this attack we no longer have the capability to address the collapse of the American middle class," Sanders said. "I disagree. Our country and the world can and will defeat ISIS and at the same time we will rebuild our disappearing middle class."

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