According to local media, the Bernie Sanders rally in Reno on Tuesday drew a crowd of people estimated at anywhere from “more than a thousand” to 4,500. I was there, but I’m terrible at guessing the number of people in a large crowd. There were more than 20. My estimate would be “a bunch.”
I had to drive for over 3 hours to get to Reno, but I still managed to arrive a couple of hours early and had a chance to observe some of the behind-the-scenes efforts that have made Sanders’ rallies so successful, and it was impressive.
Volunteers are coordinated by a man named Andrew Virden, with the help of a small cadre of paid staffers. When I arrived at the University of Nevada in Reno, Andrew had gathered together about a hundred volunteers (remember, I’m bad at estimating these things) in a corner of the parking garage near where the event was held. The volunteers had been divided into groups with different tasks. Some would hand out signs. Some would sell swag. Some would carry clipboards and work the crowd getting names, email addresses and phone numbers. Some were tasked with handing out cups of water and keeping an eye out for people who looked like they were suffering in the summer heat. A portion of the volunteers were designated the “pep squad” and it was their job to cheerlead, keep everyone excited and involved, and coach the crowd on chants and animated sign waving.
In the parking garage, Andrew was like a football coach before a game, going over the playbook. He was serious and demanding, and you could see the volunteers feeding on his intensity, growing more motivated and excited.
The rally was held outside the Joe Crowley Student Union, which is perhaps called “the Joe” by the students, or perhaps some PR person working for the university is trying to convince the students that they call it “the Joe.” I wasn’t sure which it was, but there were lots of signs on campus calling it “the Joe.”
The stage and podium where Sanders would speak had been set up on the grass outside “the Joe.” It was interesting to note how carefully things had been arranged for the purpose of influencing the imagery that would be displayed in the news media. Two elevated platforms had been set up for the press, one offering a frontal view of the podium, the other a profile view. Bleachers and a large “Bernie for President” banner had been set up behind the stage so pictures and video taken from the platform facing the podium would show Sanders standing in front of a core group of enthusiastic supporters holding blue and white “Bernie” signs, who had been coached by the pep squad on when and how best to wave those signs during the speech. Images taken from the side platform would show Sanders’ profile framed by a giant American flag.
The volunteers impressed me with their focus and persistence, working the crowd rather aggressively, but doing it with such good-natured friendliness that it was never off-putting. I doubt many people escaped that day without giving up their name, email, and phone number. The pep squad did an admirable job of keeping the crowd energized and guiding the expression of that energy in ways that enhanced the event.
I’m no expert on the staging of political events, but I’ve attended a few, including a few rallies and speeches by presidential hopefuls, going back more years than I’m prepared to admit, and I don’t remember ever seeing volunteers so well organized, working so effectively and doggedly to extract political value from such a gathering. As I keep saying, I was impressed.
After some brief introductory remarks by two students and a woman representing a nurses’ union, Sanders took the stage. He spoke in a hoarse voice for an hour, covering a lot of liberal bases. He called for revolution, bemoaned and condemned the influence of money in politics, and said less about racism and police brutality than I expected, given his recent efforts to embrace the Black Lives Matter movement. He said something silly about a “litmus test” he would apply as president when nominating a Supreme Court justice, saying he would make the judge promise to overturn the Citizens United decision. I’m pretty sure that’s not how being a judge works.
But most of what he said resonated with me. He talked about income inequality and the need to structure and regulate our economy in ways that make it more broadly beneficial and more fair, and he said that working 40 hours a week should provide an income that will support a family.
He talked about all of us working together and helping each other. He talked about women’s rights. He talked about the importance of education and access to education. He talked about being understanding of undocumented immigrants. He talked about equality. He talked about being kind. He said lots of things that a liberal like me wants to hear, and even as I detected the inevitable political calculation in some of what he said, I wanted to believe that he believed everything he said.
His rhetoric is populist, tapping into the emotions of a frustrated citizenry. Hopefully we’ve all learned from both politics and commerce that just because somebody can articulate a problem, no matter how eloquently, it doesn’t mean they have a workable solution.
Part of me would like to believe Bernie Sanders is a workable solution. Hillary Clinton is certainly an imperfect solution, but I suspect she better reflects the kind of country this is, and the kind of people we have become, even as Sanders might reflect who we wish we were, and the kind of country this is supposed to be.
That’s a morose assessment, I know. We’ll see if Sanders and the remarkable people who support his campaign can prove me wrong in the coming months.