About 5,000 people gathered in Burlington on Tuesday to hear Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders officially announce his campaign as a Democratic presidential candidate. WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley takes us into the crowd.
The south lawn of Waterfront Park, which Sanders worked to revitalize during his tenure as mayor, hosted vendors selling Bernie t-shirts, hula hoops and supporters passing out Bernie pins. Risers were set up for the public and the media. Zydeco band Mango Jam played some cool tunes.
While there was a bit of a cool breeze off the lake a long line queued up for free Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Nearby a group of students held alphabet cards spelling out “Bernie For People” and chanted as they wandered across the lawn.
There were the requisite speeches leading up to Sanders’ appearance.
Sixth generation Vermonter Mike O’Day worked up the crowd. "Bernie, Bernie, Bernie. In the last thirteen years I have seen a decided shift in the way Congress and the Supreme Court have approached working Americans. Stop voting against your own best interests. Vote Sanders in 2016!"
The founders of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream are staunch supporters of Sanders — hence the free ice cream. And Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were on stage to introduce the candidate. Cohen told the crowd voters must reject frontrunner politics. "Unlike some Johnny-some-lately’s to the issues, Bernie is the real thing. He’s about an unwavering commitment to basic justice, equality and sound financial sense. You know some say that voting for Bernie is throwing your vote away. I say that voting for anyone else is flushing our country down the drain."
Campaign volunteers said people from across the country had come to participate in Vermont’s first credible presidential campaign in more than a decade.
Katina Cummings from Waterbury Center, Vermont met people from Tennessee on her first day as a campaign volunteer. "Bernie is a political maverick. But he is the person that can turn this country around, I believe, with the working people and poor people of this country together. We need very much a change in direction to remove the decision making from a lot of the corporations and Wall Street and return to a more democratic society."
Ralph VonThaden drove from Long Island to participate in the launch. "Even if Bernie is not elected, I think that it’s really important to swing a lot of younger voters to the issues that he’s going to bring on. I’m disgusted by what’s happening. The Supreme Court decisions. Conservativism is choking me to death in my own country. And if I don’t get up here and do it, who’s gonna do it? So we give him a little money. We give him some cheers. You talk to your friends and you see what you can do. It’s up to this country what it becomes."
Senator Sanders — who was to visit the less festive hustings of New Hampshire and Iowa next — spoke to the crowd for about 40 minutes. His speech can be heard at wamc.org.
