Individuals congregated inside of the Benedict College gymnasium on Saturday morning as Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders delivered a captivating speech geared towards students, immigrants and various minority groups.
The left-wing senator, practically unheard of before his bid for presidency, has been making a name for himself in the primary races as the Democratic ticket’s most left-leaning politician. The congressman’s political campaign, which has propagated reforms from universal healthcare to a nationwide system of tuition-free colleges and universities, has earned him a considerable following among the millennial generation and the working class. His visit to the Midlands is one out of a handful of key Southeastern rallies confirmed for the week.
Recent democratic opinion polls conducted in South Carolina have suggested that Sanders is runner-up for the democratic primary following Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden.
The turnout for Sanders’ town hall meeting at Benedict College reflected the findings of the opinion polls, with an attendance of around 1,000 people. The gymnasium doors opened to students, volunteers and supporters around 10 a.m. Disquiet traveled across the room as political discussions underpinned salutations, scholarly chat and networking.
Socially conscious records filled the venue. Songs ranging from Tracy Chapman’s “Talkin’ 'Bout a Revolution,”The Beatles’ “Revolution 9” and Steve Earle’s “The Revolution Starts Now,” played as attendees sang in unison — awaiting what some pundits have called a “political revolution.” Prominent guests such as economist, political commentator and author Jonathan Tasini were in attendance. Tasini could be found scouring the floor taking pictures and chatting with guests while vending and signing copies of his latest release "The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America."
Guest speakers also included world class professor Dr. Cornel West who riled the crowd in support while opening for the Vermont senator.
“What I love about Brother Bernie,” West said, “is that he’s a brother of integrity, and honesty and decency and that’s what we need!”
The crowd almost immediately erupted into a standing ovation for the professor and remained so until Sanders was escorted onto the stage. Sanders hurried to the podium, where he would deliver a fiery, hour-long speech. Sanders spoke firmly as he described his visions for society, the economy and the future of the political process.
On social issues, the presidential candidate remained liberal — criticizing the war on drugs, advocating prison reform, standing in solidarity with recent victims of police brutality and standing up for women’s rights, along with racial, sexual and gender minorities.
His economic outlook constituted a social democratic variant similar to economic models found within modern Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany and Scandinavia. Unemployment, inflation and wage stagnation statistics were greatly emphasized.
Income inequality, taxation, and banking regulation were also some of the politician’s hot-button issues. The senator was passionate in exclaiming his views to cheering supporters.
“If banks are too big to fail, they’re too big to exist,” Sanders said.
Sanders commented that the political process was out of touch with the interests of the average American, citing corporate lobbying and plutocratic policies as major culprits for the disconnect.
Over the months, Sanders’ critics have accused the presidential candidate of being a utopian idealist. Sanders has responded that such criticisms are absurd given that most of his reforms already exist in the other developed nations of the world.
For the attendees of Sanders’ town hall meeting at Benedict, however, Sanders' words resonated like music to the ears. Supporters exited the gymnasium on the corner of Laurel Street beaming, celebrating what they hope will be a political revolution.