Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the feisty, self-described “Democratic socialist” considering a run for the White House, on Monday visited San Francisco, a city he said illustrates a key issue for 2016: the concentration of economic and political power among “a small number of billionaires” at the expense of average Americans.

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In an interview at The Chronicle, Sanders said that if he does run for president, it will be “sooner, rather than later” — even as he promised he wasn’t aiming to be a spoiler. And he could run as a Democrat.

“The difficulty of running as an independent is that you have got to get on the ballot in all 50 states, and in some it is virtually impossible to do so,” he said. “The advantage of running in the Democratic caucus is that it’s much, much easier to do so. ... You will be in debates with other candidates, you will attract more media attention. ... That’s a decision I will have to make.”

He said “it would be a very sad state of affairs if Hillary (Rodham Clinton) ran without serious opposition.”