Red States 'Feel The Bern' as Populist Message Resonates Far & Wide

Published on Monday, July 20, 2015 [/font]

by Common Dreams

Red States 'Feel The Bern' as Populist Message Resonates

Senator's populist message is catching on in Republican-heavy areas, with Arizona bringing his biggest crowd yet

by Nadia Prupis, staff writer


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Bernie Sanders speaks to a crowd of 11,000 in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, July 18, 2015. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/cc)
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On his latest round of campaign rallies this weekend, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drew three more huge crowds in support of his populist message. And while this has become a common occurrence these days for the senator, who is running for president in the 2016 election as a Democrat, the most recent turnouts are particularly significant because he is on a red-state swing.

In Arizona and Texas, massive crowds—including his biggest one yet—showed up to see Sanders speak on economic and inequality issues. And he didn't shy away from criticizing the Democratic Party for 'turning its back' on people in conservative states.

In Phoenix on Saturday, Sanders spoke to roughly 11,000 people, which, according to the Washington Post, was his largest turnout so far. He focused on income inequality and noted the importance of populist participation in the election.
"Somebody told me people are giving up on the political process," Sanders said. "Not what I see here tonight."

Texas also turned out for Sanders on Sunday. In Dallas, he spoke to an audience of 8,000, stating, "One of the problems that exists in American politics today, in my view, is that the Democratic Party has conceded half of the states in the country at the national level, and that's wrong. When childhood poverty in Texas is 27 percent, we've gotta take it on. When 34 percent of people living in Texas have no health insurance, we've gotta take it on."

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/07/20/red-states-feel-bern-populist-message-resonates