Sanders draws another big crowd in Maine

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drew another large crowd at a presidential campaign stop in Portland, Maine, on Monday evening, this one topping 7,500 people, according to aides.

“From Maine to California … the American people understand that establishment politics and establishment economics is not working for the middle class,” Sanders said of his large crowds.

“They understand that the greed of Wall Street and the greed of corporate America is destroying the middle class of this country,” he said during his speech, which was broadcast on his website.

Panorama of Bernie Sanders crowd in Maine via @ericryanbenson. pic.twitter.com/SgQzF7vaJg

— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) July 7, 2015

Crowd is so big they’ve had to open areas that were supposed to stay closed. @BernieSanders #mepolitics pic.twitter.com/kQw5XZPE3L

— Mario Moretto (@riocarmine) July 6, 2015

Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has attracted throngs of supporters to his events recently, including more than 10,000 in Madison, Wis.; 5,000 in Denver; and 2,500 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

And while he has been considered a long-shot Democratic presidential candidate, the Vermont senator has seen a rise in recent polls, though still well behind Hillary Clinton, the front-runner.

“We are worried about him, sure,” Clinton Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri admitted Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“He will be a serious force for the campaign, and I don’t think that will diminish,” she added.