Co-authored by Erica Williams
Photos by Sam Wang, Nate Monga, and Austin Halpern
Two long lines wrapped around either side of Edith Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center awaiting Bernie Sanders on Saturday, Nov. 5. The slightly shorter line was comprised of Colorado College students who had secured tickets to the event from the Worner desk—tickets had sold out in eight minutes the day before. The longer line consisted of Colorado Springs community members: one mother rocked her baby wearing noise-cancelling headphones. A car with a Vermont license plate pulled in and parked next to Cornerstone.
Sanders stopped at CC on his tour across the country campaigning for Hillary Clinton. After running against Clinton in the Democratic primary, Sanders became one of Clinton’s most effective campaigners, especially among young people. However, during the rally it was easy to forget that the rally was for Clinton and not for Sanders.
Sanders was preceded by several speakers. Among them was Electra Johnson, who ran for El Paso County Commissioner and is married to a CC professor. She talked about her grandmother, a poor woman living in Ireland during the famine who moved to southern Colorado to marry her grandfather, a Union leader. She spoke about the importance of a government that supports the working class and called for a presidency where “misogyny and hate [don’t] control the conversation.”
Sanders framed his talk in the context of a campaign season that arguably focused more on the candidates than on policy. “This campaign is not about Hillary Clinton and her family,” said Sanders. “It is not about Donald Trump and his family. This campaign is about you and your family.” The speech contained Sanders’ famous populism mixed with an exhortation to vote and become involved.
Much of the talk featured points that aligned with Sanders’ initial “political revolution.” He spoke of the U.S. “moving towards an oligarchic form of society” and “the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality that exists in America today.” Sanders touched on a litany of Democratic positions, including pay equity for women, guaranteed healthcare for all, and the fight against voter ID laws. Sanders commented on these issues both to boost Clinton’s platform as well as promote his own Senate agenda.
One of the largest cheers of the speech was in response to the fight against climate change. “Now this is a radical idea,” said Sanders. “Ready for a radical idea guys? Secretary Hillary Clinton believes in science.”
Sanders’ speech was not without humor. When speaking of those who doubt the potential of political change, Sanders said they often ask, “what are you drinking? What are you smoking?” He looked around for a second and then, remembering where he was, quipped, “Oh, this is Colorado.”
While the crowd was extremely supportive of Sanders, people protested both inside and outside the rally. Colorado Springs resident Sally Briggs stood just outside the doors sporting signs that read, “the DNC cheated” and “Vote for the greater good, not the lesser evil: Jill 2016”. She said she voted for Jill Stein. “I want a refund for voting for Obama.” As for Clinton, Briggs said, “it’s the pay-to-play, it’s the corruption, it’s the lies. She’s an illegitimate candidate because she cheated to get the nomination.”
When asked how she would respond to the argument that voting third party is a wasted vote, she responded, “I would say that they are wasting their vote. Jill is a viable candidate. She will not spoil the election—there are enough votes. It is the unaffiliated people that people forget about. There were 53 million unaffiliated voters that were not able to vote in the primaries that can vote for her.”
Across the street and on the other side of the political spectrum, Cecilia Greenhalgh held a Trump/Pence sign. She characterized her involvement in the Trump campaign as “very passionate. I am doing this mainly for my two teenage grandkids.” She knew after “the first speech he ever made with two words, ‘border wall,’ that I would be voting for him. I lived 19 years on the border in Tucson, Ariz. I could tell you a whole lot of things that go on there.”
Channeling the outsider mood so prevalent in modern politics, Greenhalgh described Clinton in a more negative light than Sanders. She spoke of “her and Bill’s dirty little tricks from Whitewater.” If faced with the choice of Clinton or Sanders, Greenhalgh said, “I guess it would be Bernie, her under him.”
Inside the rally, Jesus Manuel Valenzuela stood in full military dress as part of his protest. “I’m a Marine,” he said. “In 2009 my brother and I got a removal notice from this country. That’s why I am here. There are over 3,000 veterans deported from this country and I am advocating for the deported veterans, and they don’t have a voice. They are thrown out from this country and nobody seems to care about this.”
Valenzuela said that Bernie Sanders had addressed this point in the past. “Bernie Sanders, at one time, when he was running for presidency, he did mention it and that’s why I went to be a delegate for Bernie Sanders. And today, he disappointed me. He did not mention this. We, as veteran soldiers, we put our life on the line. And they are being deported.”
Even some of those who were not actively protesting expressed reservations about Clinton. When asked if he considered himself a Clinton supporter, Colorado Springs resident Chris Dysart said, “I would prefer to be classified as a Bernie supporter.” But, Dysart said, “Considering the alternative, there is nothing else to do.”
For those in the audience who still craved the idealism and boldness of Bernie Sanders in contrast to Clinton’s demeanor, Sanders delivered. He urged the crowd to do more than just vote, to “think big, not small. Transform the country… We can be the moral leader in the world, in terms of economics, social, racial, environmental justice. We can have the whole world looking at the U.S. as a model of what a civilized Democratic society should be.”