Feeling the Bern in Portland OR - First Organizing Meet-up For Bernie Sanders

[99th_Monkey]

Last edited Tue Jul 14, 2015, 01:50 PM - Edit history (2)

It was awesome to be there, feeling the Bern with Oregon Bernistas of all stripes who came out of the woodwork on short-notice to start organizing for Sanders 2016. Local KGW tv news reported that about 750 enthusiastic people showed up to volunteer and get acquainted. Clearly, Portland is so happy to have a truly progressive candidate for POTUS. This was the very first meet-up, as far as I know.





Here's a very brief video clip (I took on my iPhone) of the crowd, shouting "Bernie! Bernie!,
http://vid163.photobucket.com/albums/t313/RawSenses/IMG_0897_zpsb54uflub.mp4

FYI: If you're in Oregon, future campaign organizing events will be posted here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BerniesBattalionPDX/

[grasswire]

1. 250?

KGW TV reported more than 700 people had signed up

[99th_Monkey]

3. Cool .. I will edit op to say that

I'm terrible at estimating crowds and also didn't want to over estimate.

That's great that KGW reported that 750 were there ... THANK YOU so
much for letting me know.

[arcane1]

2. Hell yes!!! Here's to many more!

[Le Taz Hot]

4. Alright, Portland!

[BrotherIvan]

5. I've got to ask again, is this normal?

I've never heard of large crowds for meetup events. I've never heard of people spontaneously organizing. Does anyone remember this happening?

[99th_Monkey]

6. Portland is about as far from normal as one can get

I've never heard of that either. I kept looking for any sign of organizing in
advance for Bernie, then stumbled upon a Facebook post from "Bernie's Battalion - PDX"
that announced the meet-up: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BerniesBattalionPDX/

Thanks for asking. Maybe others know of similar events, but I don't.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

7. Maybe OWS somewhat

but this seems different and bigger. OWS seemed to be mainly bottom up and locked into a sometimes unwieldy consensus mode.

This is definitely bottom up, but it is also definitely top down, because Bernie is constantly stoking people and bringing new people in with his message. Sort of a positive feedback loop fueled by social media and real world meetups. Feels like it could be history calling.

[BrotherIvan]

8. It is interesting for sure even if he doesn't win

Bernie has a lot to thank Obama for. One being people learned to organize and how to get the word out through his masterful campaign. The second is that he then disappointed many liberals by breaking from his campaign rhetoric. So people are still hungry for change. I think that's why it has started so quickly. And in the back of my mind, I would guess that quite a lot of people who voted for Obama will vote for Bernie. People on DU keep saying that's not true, but I really think it is. Clinton is an even weaker candidate this time around, so once people aren't afraid he can't win, they will be won over.

[LWolf]

9. I'm in the wrong part

of Oregon, but I may show up at some point.

[99th_Monkey]

10. +10 ~nt~