Bernie Sanders draws his biggest crowd yet — in Arizona of all places

[En Garde]

Bernie Sanders drew more than 11,000 people to a rally Saturday night in downtown Phoenix -- the largest crowd to date for a presidential candidate whose audiences have been swelling in recent months.

The Vermont senator, who has emerged as the leading alternative to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination, got a rock-star-like reception from supporters who streamed into a cavernous lower-level room of the city's convention center...

"Somebody told me people are giving up on the political process," Sanders said as he greeted the crowd Saturday night. "Not what I see here tonight."...While few Democratic elites give the 73-year-old Sanders much chance of winning the nomination, his campaign is being taken increasing seriously by the Clinton camp... Brett Barry, 50, a real-estate broker from Scottsdale, said Sanders drew such a large audience because "we're hungry here."

"Some of our liberal friends have given up because they don't think he has a realistic chance," Barry said. "I get tired of hearing that."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/07/19/bernie-sanders-draws-his-biggest-crowd-yet-in-arizona-of-all-places/?tid=hpModule_ba0d4c2a-86a2-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394&hpid=z8

[snagglepuss]

1. Fantastic news. Looks like Bernie wasn't fazed at all by

the kerfuffle at NetRoots. Go Bernie Go

[artislife]

2. 12,600 final number. Wow!

This ain't Madison.

[En Garde]

5. Even better. Where'd you hear that?

[artislife]

6. It's in the link.

[En Garde]

7. Yeah, just read it in the Comments section.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[artislife]

8. I always love the comment section...unless it is on yahoo!

[En Garde]

10. Yeah, I hear you.

Yahoo is a cesspit. Love that .gif, by the way.

[TM99]

14. Holy Cow!

I was there and was pegging it between 10,000 and 12,000 but to see that it actually topped out close to 13,000 is amazing.

It was a hell of a speech, a hell of rally, and I am glad I was there.

[artislife]

25. Lucky you! nt

[HereSince1628]

18. Fantastic, politicians usually can only dream of such crowds

He's still less than 2 months into his campaign, and it's growing like a wildfire!

[HereSince1628]

23. I completely agree with you.

Sanders may still face the inevitability of money meme, but the notion that the Dems would be led by a prohibitive favorite is history.

Listening to the speeches of the Iowa Dems HoF dinner, it's also pretty clear that the obvious support in the Base for Sanders' message has moved the content of the campaign well to the left.

The most inevitable part of the general election politics is that whoever gets the nomination is going to be constrained by a record of earlier promises supporting progressive positions. The ge isn't going to be only about war in the middle east, containing China.

[daleanime]

29. "constrained by a record of earlier promises..."

wouldn't it be better to think that the nominee should stand for some thing during the general election?

[HereSince1628]

30. Sure. But

The game for decades has been play to the base in primary then play to the center

I didn't make that history, I just shared time with it and I've been sharing history with it since Truman.

[daleanime]

32. And isn't time we changed that?

When our leaders speak, I want it to mean something. That it won't change in a couple of months.

But maybe that's just me.

[HereSince1628]

33. Hold that thought...and compare it to what we THOUGHT we were doing electing Obama

Now, let it go and remember how that worked out.

Let's be honest.

YES. It is time that was changed, it has been for a long time.

We actually thought we were changing -that- very thing for a long time, decades in fact...

Not to say we must despair, hope springs eternal, even while expectation tempers and protects our psyches from abuse and disappointment of what's likely to turn out pretty much the sos.

That's happened to me almost every 4 years for decades.

[daleanime]

35. Every thing is doomed to fail, so what sense is there in trying?

Not to be rude, but

Could we fail? Oh, hell yes, but what happens without our involvement?

Thanks for keeping my spirits up.

[HereSince1628]

36. Not to be rude but you don't understand what you read.

[daleanime]

37. Then please show me where I go a stray.....

[arcane1]

3. "The largest crowd to date for a presidential candidate" AGAIN!

[En Garde]

4. Yep... this deep red state crowd beats the 10,000 in Madison. No other candidate has come close.

[beam me up scottie]

9. Because he is a rock star!

[cui bono]

11. Fantastic!

I doubt it will be long before the polls really shift. I mean if he's getting crowds so much bigger than Hillary, it's only a matter of time before the word gets out about him. I truly believe the poll numbers favoring Hillary are because of name recognition. Once Bernie is known around the country and people keep talking about him and wearing his t-shirts and putting up yard signs and bumper stickers it's going to change.

[LeftOfWest]

12. Telling the truth works.

Thanks.

[davidpdx]

13. Thanks for the info

[DCBob]

15. "He delivered largely the same stump speech he has been for months..."

"lamenting the level of income inequality in the country and railing against the outsized political influence of the "billionaire class."

For sure that's a big issue but there are so many more that need to be addressed. I think this is why he isn't connecting with people outside his comfort zone.

[Divernan]

16. "People outside his comfort zone"? Multi-billionaire sugar daddies?Wall Street bankers?

One Percenters? Hedge fund owners? War mongers/profiteers? Guess what!?! They are not welcome in progressive Democrats' or Bernie's comfort zone.

Sanders has touched upon the KEY vital concernS (that's plural concerns, not just income inequality), of the non-one-percenters, and that is why his crowds keep growing. He is exactly where he needs to be in getting his message across, as witness the huge, ever-growing, record-breaking crowds, even in red state Arizona.

He has a vital, substantive message to deliver - what you dismissively call his "stump speech" - and there's no reason to change or dilute that. It works! It works better with each passing day!

But your concern is noted.

[Autumn]

20. Hey bob. What do you consider Bernie's comfort zone to be?

He connected with over 12.000 people yesterday, in Arizona. Larry and Jamie were't there but I don't see a downside to that.

[PatrickforO]

28. But POC ARE in his comfort zone. Check the link.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=455509

And please, don't fall for the Karl Rove 'divide and conquer' strategy. One of the guy's main STRENGTHS is minority issues and it's being systematically turned into a weakness on here. Maybe one or two trolls behind it, and if you go clear back to the rock it came from under and lift it up so you can see the maggots, it's a couple of wrinkly old white male hands grasping for more profit...

The Koch brothers.

[RiverLover]

17. "Bernie Effin Sanders 2016"!!! Great news!

from the OP link~

Among those in the audience Saturday night was Amanda Appelbaum, a stay-at-home mom in Phoenix with a baby on the way who wore a T-shirt proclaiming "Bernie Effin Sanders 2016."

"In the last 10 years, I've felt I've had no reason to vote or focus on politics," Appelbaum, 29, said, saying Sanders was different. "I love that he doesn't take corporate donations, that it's all about being elected by the people."

I want one of those t-shirts!

[PoliticAverse]

21. See...

http://store.acmeprints.com/bernie-effin-sanders-2016-ver-1/

[Enthusiast]

24. Great article!

[peacebird]

26. Fantastic! Looking forward to hearing how his Texas rally goes today!

[kenn3d]

38. Dallas this afternoon

:large

He'll be in Houston this evening.

[peacebird]

39. Fantastic! Thank you!

[kenn3d]

40. youtube video from Dallas rally

Last edited Sun Jul 19, 2015, 06:33 PM - Edit history (1)

Published on Jul 19, 2015
Bernie Sanders Dallas Rally on July 19, 2015. There were over 5,000 people at the rally which is being held on the same day as a rally in Houston that is expected to have another 7-8K in attendance, and just one day after a record-breaking 11K+ in Phoenix, AZ.


Lots more Dallas photos and video here:
http://ban.jo/News/US-Canada/20150719/Bernie-Sanders-Speaks-In-Dallas-TX-Dallas/

[PatrickforO]

27. Plenty of diversity in that crowd, by all reports.

[L0oniX]

34. ...but that was right next to Vermont. Wait until he gets to Oregon.