An estimated 10,000 people gathered at Potts Field on the University of Colorado’s East Campus on Saturday to hear Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speak about his proposals for presidency.
Eager supporters decked out in Bernie Sanders paraphernalia lined up hours early to hear the 74-year-old senator from Vermont speak. Sanders discussed his big ideas on immigration reform, creating new jobs and the concept of free tuition, which was the most popular idea with the audience.
“This is a people’s campaign,” Sanders said. “You, brothers and sisters, are part of a political revolution.”
His remarks on the ongoing gun control debate hit home for some Coloradans.
“The attacks in Columbine and Aurora have put your state on the map nationally in a way I know you did not want,” Sanders said.
Sanders took a personal route when addressing some of the most prevalent issues today. He related his push for immigration reform to his own story of immigration. He detailed his father’s move from Poland to Brooklyn in search of better jobs and more opportunities for his family.
“Our job is to unite families, not tear them apart,” he said.
The Vermont senator is firm in his push for a government that centers around the people and he boasted that 650,000 Americans are on board with this concept.
Carmen Marxuach, a communications major at CU, is part of this support base.
“Universal healthcare is an issue I’ve always thought to be a basic human right,” Marxuach said. “Bernie Sanders claims that he can raise money to make something like that more plausible and I really think that he could.”
Sanders urged the audience, along with the rest of the American public, to think big in terms of the betterment of the country.
“We are the wealthiest country in the history of the world,” Sanders said. “When we stand together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.”
Cue the applause.
Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Sydney Worth at sywo3665@colorado.edu.
