Bernie Sanders took the stage at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center to the cheers of thousands of his supporters. An estimated 8,000 were in attendance as Senator Sanders became the first presidential candidate to visit the city of Pittsburgh during this election cycle. According to volunteers, the first supporters began showing up at 1:30 AM to take their place in line, coming from as far away as Wilkes-Barre to hear the Vermont senator speak.
Sanders wasted little time with introductions before proceeding to discuss how his platform differed significantly from Hillary Clinton’s. He specifically cited their differing views on campaign finance, and he proudly proclaimed that his campaign had received over six million individual contributions. Sanders also joked about immediately releasing the transcripts of all of his speeches to Wall Street banks before revealing empty hands to the audience.
As Sanders continued to highlight the differences between himself and Secretary Clinton, he made reference to her vote in support of the Iraq War. Shortly after making this comparison, he declared that if he were elected president, there would be, “No more stupid wars”. He continued by highlighting Clinton’s support of free trade deals like NAFTA and the TPP.
Sanders spent much of his 57 minutes at the podium speaking about how free trade deals crippled the American economy in cities like Pittsburgh. He cited several examples of companies outsourcing jobs using local examples such as the GE locomotive plant in Erie to the Sony television factory in Westmoreland County. These echoed statements made during introductions from representatives of the United Steelworkers and the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers.
Sanders pledged to “get the Waltons off of Welfare” during his time speaking about how major corporations are currently adding to the tax burden of the American public. He also highlighted the problems with America’s “rigged economy”.
An informal survey of people taken at the event showed that close to 60% of those surveyed would not vote for Hillary Clinton in the November election. Sanders pointed to recent poll information that had him leading by one percent nationally. He also spoke of a recent poll which showed that he would win by 20 percent in a hypothetical election against Donald Trump, while Senator Clinton would win by only 12 percent.
The crowd in attendance was overwhelmingly under-30 and many local schools and universities were well represented. Michael Benedetto Myzak spoke of the young attendants:
“Seeing the overwhelming amount of young people at this rally made me hopeful for the future of this country. It seems that more and more young people are becoming politically active, and that bodes well for our chances in the election, and in the long-term future.”
As his speech began to draw to a close, Senator Sanders took time to highlight the progressive strides America has taken in recent years. Specifically, he mentioned that ten years ago the concept of gay marriage being legal in all 50 states would have been a question of “What are you smoking?” Sanders closed by highlighting his platform mainstays, which include paid family leave, comprehensive immigration reform, Medicare for all, and tuition free public colleges and universities.
Currently, Senator Sanders is lagging considerably behind Secretary Clinton in the polls with the Real Clear Politics Average putting him behind by 27.5 percent. The Pennsylvania Primary election will be held on April 26.
Featured image used by permission of photographer Michael Benedetto Myzak
