The predetermined nominee, Hillary still has a battle on her hands.
Jaye Swoboda said that years ago he marched with Hillary Clinton in support of women’s issues. Years later, he voted for Barack Obama in his quest to become president.
On Saturday, Swoboda, a doctor for the Veterans Affairs who lives south of Ennis, sat in a meeting room of the Grand Hotel in Butte to join about 30 people to support Bernie Sanders in his efforts to become president.
“I came here to feel the Bern,” Swoboda said, making reference to a phrase made popular during the campaign for the Vermont firebrand who is tussling with Clinton over the Democratic nomination.
On Saturday a statewide organization of Sanders volunteers held a training session in Butte, which included coaching on how to become a delegate.
The event was organized by activist/actress Margot Kidder, former state representative Amanda Curtis and author Diane Smith.
“He’s going to win Montana,” said Andy Boyd of Montanans for Bernie Sanders, a grassroots group with members statewide. “We’re sure he’s going to win in Montana.” He said the group has 8,000 members on Facebook and about 500 active members. He said he hopes to organize events in Great Falls.
Those in attendance were to go through training on how to campaign for Sanders and how to field questions from people they make their pitch to. It was to end with an uptown rally and a “Have a beer for Bernie” at a local bar.
Kristen Ryan of Butte brought daughter Hazel to the Grand Hotel event.
“He’s for the environment, (concerned about) global warming, health care and education,” she said. “As a mom I am worried about those things. He’s kind and about people.”[…]
Kidder told the group she became a fan of Sanders when he said he believed in climate change and how it translates into other issues.
“He has a very clear-eyed grasp of how good environmental policy is good economic policy,” she said.
She wants Sanders delegates to bring the Democratic Party back to the left, where it once was.
Later, she told a reporter it did no good for the Democrats to be in the “mushy middle. You have to appeal to your base.”
Sanders’ climate change stance was echoed by others in the room who, as an exercise, had broken off into small groups to talk about what they liked about the 74-year-old candidate.
Abbey Freed, 22, said he won her over during one of the first debates when he was asked about what he thought was the biggest threat to the United States.
“He said ‘climate change’ and I was surprised by that … as a young person I liked that.
“He’s authentic and the only candidate who is bringing people together.”