Senator Bernie "In My View" Sanders
Mr. Fantastic here! Last night, the Invisiblewoman and I were at the Alliant Energy Center where Senator Bernie Sanders met with us and more than 10,000 of our closest friends! Below the fold you will find a recap of the most attended pre-primary visit by a candidate seeking a party nomination (for President) in the entirety of Wisconsin's proud, politically active history…including pictures, observations and musings by Madison's super-powered duo. Come join us!
My oh my…what great evening for the progressive movement that Senator Sanders has reluctantly come to personify! All day long, the Invisiblewoman was fretting like a lovable pussycat on the set of the live-action version of 101 Dalmatians. She was so worried that she was seeing spots…and not metaphorical ones! She was concerned that there would be nowhere near the 9,000 attendees that were projected to show up for Bernie's appearance, and therefore allow the media and his opponents to declare that the Bernie Boomlet had, in recognition of Independence Day celebrations everywhere, burst dazzlingly and was falling back to Earth in tired, charred bits. Arriving at the Coliseum, we quickly realized that these fears were as substantial as Scott Walker's promise of 200,000 jobs.
The parking lot was already packed. There were droves of students walking (probably having trudged from campus) to the event. There was even a band welcoming us to the fray. As the strains of "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This" played, it didn't take long to realize that 9,000 K was very likely to be exceeded!
Indeed, upon entering the coliseum, it was obvious that the fuse on the Bernie Fireworks display had only just begun to be lit, and perhaps…just
perhaps it was actually more of a progressive warhead than it was a pretty firework. By the time we were done filtering in, there must have been at least 10,000 of us waiting for the only candidate I can recall in my 47 years who speaks the unvarnished, plain truth about what has become of, in Bernie's view, "the most wealthy nation in history". Now, there are other diaries that have posted Bernie's speech in full, so allow us to focus on what we saw about the people who attended, and how they responded to Candidate Sanders.
John Nichols, who introduced Bernie, sharing a moment with Ed Schultz
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John Nichols introduced the Senator, saying that he, himself was there not to welcome us to see/hear from Bernie; that indeed, there was only ONE of us in attendance because, really Bernie was one of us… the collected progressives who yearned for our country's return to the progressive ideals under which it was founded. Power stuff, and he wasn't fibbing. I took some time prior to the start of the rally and spoke to a few attendees. From a millennial young lady, to a younger couple from Milwaukee who brought their nearly one-year old daughter, to a couple who had been married for 40 years…they all said the same things about Mr. Sanders:
"Bernie says it like it is."
Wow.
"He's for the working man."
"Bernie talks about things I care about: how the rich are killing the economy AND the planet."
"I worry about what my little girl will have to deal with…I trust him"
THOSE are direct quotes from folks you see depicted here. Moreover, in listening to conversation snippets afterward, I heard version of those quotes time and again. Sanders is speaking a language that perhaps most of us either didn't know we could speak, or had forgotten we could. It is the language of socio-political revolution… no let me re-phrase that…it is the speech of EVOLUTION, for we have evolved have we not?
In Wisconsin, we have experienced both the slow, 40-year consumption of rights and resources at the hands and ever-ravenous bellies of the New Deal-hating oligarchs AND the lightning-fast devouring of union protections and worker's rights as a function of the installation of the Koch-sponsored Scott Walker, who I swear I could hear weeping as we drove past the Governor's mansion on the way home tonight. In Wisconsin, as is the case all around the country, Progressives have had enough! To quote my friend, the Thing (another member of the Fantastic Four for those of you not comic book savvy!),
"It's clobberin' time!"
We have, I believe, been evolving as a voting block as we have witnessed the results of allowing the 1% to be a ruling class. We have hoped for things to change, we have listened to snazzy rhetorical flourishes and been ultimately disappointed by politicians who also happen to be "public" servants, at least some of the time. Bernie Sanders knows this. He understands that it seems that the country is ripe for real, unfettered change. He IS a public servant first and foremost, and also happens to be a very smart politician.
Coming to Madison was sheer genius. On the very day Hillary announces she raised 45 Million dollars (you read that right, dear reader), Bernie nearly fills Veteran's Memorial Coliseum with the kind of results and resources that money can't buy. Think about it. HIS headline to counter Hillary's will be "Sanders fills ANOTHER venue with another crowd in the THOUSANDS"; and that is just the immediate benefit. Playing long ball, Bernie recruited A LOT of ground game volunteers tonight. Bernie is right when he said tonight,
"They will be able to outspend us, but we will win this election. Because if we do our job, we will develop the grass roots we need to make it happen. They have the money; we have the people, and together…WE can do ANYTHING."
For our part, Invisiblewoman and I are all in with Senator Sanders. In addition to the 100 posters we made and hung up around the city, starting THIS weekend, we will be at the Saturday Farmer's Market on the Capitol Square. There, we will be signing up volunteers and handing out Bernie materials and (I hope) selling Bernie gear (100% proceeds go to Bernie of course!). I do not know exactly where on the square we will be, but, "In my view", it would be great to see YOU there!