Bernie Sanders was in Bloomington, Indiana yesterday. Our primary takes place this Tuesday, May 3rd. His visit was announced only 48 hours before his appearance at the Indiana University Auditorium. The auditorium has a listed capacity of 3200. Around 9000 people came out to see the Vermont senator. I shot this video of the scene outside the auditorium. It has some great comments from young voters who came out to support Bernie.
I’m including a comment I received from my 64 year-old high school friend who had waited in line for over two hours and got a seat inside the auditorium: “It was fun being in the midst of all the young people...parents with children at IU can be proud, they are generally a considerate, well informed group of kids. And, they do Feel the Bern, and they will vote!”
As the crowd continue to build, I heard from Sanders’ campaign staff members that Bernie would probably be speaking to the outside crowd before speaking inside the auditorium. So I decided to stay outside and attempt to capture the atmosphere there. I felt this setting with the crowd in front of the Showalter Fountain helped tell more of a unique story than the standard campaign speech setup that would happen inside. I was one of the few media persons not inside the auditorium when the Senator spoke to the outside crowd and I’m happy to share this video of Bernie’s comments to the more than 5000 people who were unable to get seats for the auditorium stump speech.
During this campaign I have never wavered in my support for Hillary Rodham Clinton but I’ve also supported Bernie Sanders’ candidacy from the moment he declared. I agree with most of his convictions and principles and felt he and his ideas were a welcome addition to the conversation and would help to balance the monotonous and overwhelming media coverage of the Republican primary campaign. Bernie Sanders has made Hillary a better candidate and I’ve enjoyed the decency each has displayed in a respectful campaign with intelligent discussion of the issues I care about. Like so many of the young voters who turned out at yesterday’s rally, I want Sanders to stay in the campaign and have a major voice at the convention. I believe the ideas that have generated the interest and excitement of these motivated voters should be reflected and representative of the Democratic Party as we move to the fall campaign. I would also support Sanders for vice-president.