Hillary will feel the Bern all the way to the convention in Philly.
Almost 2,000 people cheered Bernie Sanders here on Friday, May 13, as he assailed corporate greed and rattled off a list of his progressive proposals.
The senator from Vermont, in a speech at the Ramada Inn & Suites in south Fargo, acknowledged the commanding lead Hillary Clinton has in the number of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. The crowd shouted, “You can do it!”
“You guys are going to have to come out in large numbers and give us a great victory,” he said. Sanders said he would need to win in North Dakota’s June 7 caucuses and the other remaining contests by large margins in order to win the nomination.
Sanders was introduced by former Fargo talk radio show host Ed Schultz at the rally. “He’ll stand up to Wall Street,” Schultz said.
Taking the podium, Sanders noted Schulz’s Fargo roots. “You raise tough and good people here in Fargo,” Sanders said.
Over the next hour, Sanders appeared to delight the crowd of mostly young people. They booed Wall Street and applauded lines about campaign finance reform and “political revolution.”
The Sanders campaign said 1,828 people made it inside for the speech, while 200 were outside.
“When we began this campaign a little over a year ago, we were considered to be a fringe campaign,” Sanders said. “Well, a lot has changed in the last year.”
“Wall Street is not too happy about it. The world of corporate America is not so happy about it,” he said. “I think millions of Americans are happy about it.”
He pointed to his victories in 19 states, then said, “With your help, we’re going to win the caucus here in North Dakota.”[…]
Another of his priorities is tackling climate change. “I am more than aware that North Dakota is a fossil fuel state and that there are a whole lot of workers that are supporting their families” through that industry. He said he supports $41 billion to help workers during the energy shift.
“Our goal is not to punish the workers. It is to save this planet.”
Sanders made specific appeals to black, Latino and Native American voters, saying he takes seriously their concerns about the lack of resources invested in inner cities, the exploitation of undocumented immigrants and the various challenges facing Native American communities. “We owe the Native American people a debt that we can never fully repay,” he said.
He ended the rally to the song “Starman,” by David Bowie.
Some people waited for more than an hour in the cold to hear Sanders speak. One of them wasn’t old enough to vote, but she was supporting Sanders anyway.
“He’s for the people,” said Lauren Rehbein, 9, of Moorhead, who was wearing a Sanders-themed T-shirt.