This is coming from a pundit who once dismissed the Sanders campaign, and by the way, Donald Trump. A Franklin Pierce/Boston Herald poll back in March showed Clinton leading Sanders 44 percent to 8 percent.
Advertisement
“I wish people grew up in the hood and grew up with adversity and seen sh-t”, he said. There were so many people the fair stopped. And Bernie was not even giving free helicopter rides.
But attendees still got the Sanders experience that has come to define his campaign: a almost hourlong speech punctuated by repeated references to the country’s growing wealth divide.
“I just want to be an attendee”, said Ryan. “The reason this campaign is doing well is because we’re talking about the issues that impact the American people….”
Then there is Donald Trump.
On August 9, more than 27,000 people crowded inside (and outside) the Moda Center in Portland, stomping and cheering as Senator Bernie Sanders addressed what ails America.
“Sanders is well-recognized for his principled leadership and has consistently stood up for middle-class families”, DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. Ryan has never done anything like this before and said he only spent $20 in Facebook marketing.
The U.S. senator has raised over $15 million for his presidential bid since kicking off his campaign in late April. He has nearly no operatives in those states, no TV ads promoting them, and no local media coverage.
But the question remains whether the presidential campaign equivalent of an underground punk-rock show can actually compete on the big stage of American politics with the exceedingly well-funded likes of Hillary Clinton and all the billionaire-backed Republican candidates. This crosses party and regional lines. “It’s Bernie’s message. It’s an appealing message and he’s striking a chord with people”. They are perceived outsiders who won’t put up with the status quo any longer.
And his advice to candidates who are trying to connect with a diverse group of Americans?
Advertisement
As of this writing, 75,000 people have said they would go. Trump is still on the stump and Kelly is now on vacation. We need to wake up. He isn’t handsome or telegenic (“He just does not look like a president” commented someone on the live video stream I was hosting via Periscope), and his speeches don’t soar, they bite. The anger in America may be strong enough to elect Trump or Bernie Sanders.
