"He's right, you know..."
Posted on 07/30/2015 12:46:40 PM PDT by Red Steel
A crowd of nearly 200 people jammed an Athens-Clarke County Library auditorium Wednesday night to hear a live video speech from Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders.
In his 10-minute presentation, broadcast online to similar gatherings across the country that the Sanders campaign said reached more than 100,000 people, the Independent senator from Vermont sounded his familiar populist notes — a $15 minimum wage, tuition-free public colleges and universities, guaranteed health care and campaign finance reform — as he urged viewers to get involved in his grassroots-driven campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“It’s not acceptable that the rich get richer and everybody else gets poorer,” Sanders said.
“The only way we take on the billionaire class,” he added, “is a strong grassroots campaign. When millions stand together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. That is what this political revolution is all about.”
Wednesday’s crowd appeared ready for that revolution. As the clock on a video screen counted down the time before the start of Sanders’ speech, the library auditorium erupted in sustained chants: “The people united will never be defeated!” and “We’re unstoppable — a fair world is possible.”
Recent polling shows Sanders gaining some ground on Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton, though he remains significantly behind the former secretary of state. A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows Sanders with 17 percent of Democrats backing his presidential bid, with Clinton holding steady at 55 percent.
Interestingly, the same poll shows that in a hypothetical general election match-up, Sanders would beat current Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump by 44 percent to 39 percent. The same poll shows Trump trailing Clinton by 12 points in a head-to-head match-up.
Wednesday’s event in Athens featured a diverse crowd, at least in terms of age, with retirees sitting side-by-side with college students and young professionals. Otherwise, the crowd was predominantly white.
But Starr Wright, one of the organizers of Wednesday’s event in Athens, said the crowd encompassed a diversity of political viewpoints.
“It’s disenfranchised Republicans, it’s disenfranchised socialists,” he said.
Among the younger people at the Sanders campaign event in Athens was Cole Taylor, an assistant tour manger for the band Drive-By Truckers. Taylor said he came to the library to “experience a grassroots movement” and added that he’d been inspired to possibly get more involved in the Sanders campaign.
“He just seems like a common-sense choice,” Taylor said.
On the other side of the demographic spectrum at Wednesday’s event was Athens retiree Jerry Aaron, who said he was drawn to the Sanders campaign as a result of his “disgust with American politics. It’s owned by the people with all the money.”
Describing himself as neither conservative nor liberal, except for a streak of fiscal conservatism, Aaron said he was attracted by Sanders’ push for tuition-free public higher education. Aaron explained that he sees that approach as making an investment in the people of the United States.
Also at the Sanders event at the library were Maggie Songster and her sister, Lois. The 20-year-old Athens twins, who will be voting in their first presidential election next year, said they were curious to learn more about Sanders.
Both of the women are college students, and like Aaron, are interested in Sanders’ proposed approach to higher education.
“Anything that can help with our tuition, we’ll listen to it,” they said.
Lois Songster also was interested in Sanders’ thoughts on the shrinking middle class, and said she was encouraged by Sanders’ looking at the question of “how we can even this out.”
Additionally, Lois Songster noted that she sees Sanders as different from a traditional politician.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if someone from the people won for once?” she asked.
Whoa. Dozens.
Ick.
I've gathered with dozens on city streets waiting for a light to change so we could cross.
Well I'll be damned, would you look at that!
Stand back, make room...
“Here in the front folks. We saved a ten by ten foot spot for you.”
“Ah folks, we’d like to ask you to stand five feet from the nearest person so our photos will look like we had 100s instead of dozens.”
“Thanks for your help. Hey, where are you all going... wait come back.”
LOL
"He's right, you know..."
= :^)
Finally i figured this was in GA
This is so funny.
Trump got about 10,000 LIVE. Hundreds of thousands more online and on television.
This guy is a poster child for cognitive dissonance.
Greece is getting desperate?........................
It was 200 people watching a live video feed in a small library auditorium in a very blue college town surrounded by a sea of red counties.
It’s what passes for breaking news in a small city.
Free Stuff! Screw the rich! Viva la revolution! Yeah!
And to think Romney was excoriated for his 47% remark which was entirely and factually true.
I bet the Greeks would sell out weeks in advance to hear Bernie Sanders.
"He just seems like a common-sense choice..."
Notice they don’t mention that this sumbitch is also as anti-gun as Obama?
Greece?
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