'Not just a protest candidate': Sanders draws thousands to Las Vegas rally

[TubbersUK]

Several thousand Democrats stood in a line wrapped around a high school football stadium on Sunday, in hopes of seeing Bernie Sanders speak in west Las Vegas.

The venue, Bonanza high school gymnasium, was filled to capacity. Nevada holds its Democratic caucus on Saturday 20 February, and those who queued up included campaign volunteers from California, military veterans, nurses, and workers from the Vegas Strip.

Rohan Ramadas, 26, and his friend Pear Wilson, 30, had driven from Los Angeles to canvas for Sanders in pivotal Clark County, which is home to 2 million of Nevada’s 2.8 million residents. It was the first time either of the college graduates had donated time and money to a political campaign.

They decided to get involved this past summer, Ramadas said, when it became clear Sanders “wasn’t just a protest candidate”.

John Major, 57, who spent 23 years in the US coast guard, arrived by himself.

“I’m worried about the status of the country,” he said. “The infrastructure falling apart, the student debts that kids are building up because of the system now. It wasn’t like that when I grew up.”

Clinton’s campaign has tried to temper expectations that it would dominate the Nevada caucus, a shocking turnabout in a state it once considered a potential firewall against Sanders’ momentum. Iowa and New Hampshire are both more than 90% white, which has allowed Clinton to argue that Nevada – and its 25% minority population – offers a more accurate reflection of the voting bloc Democrats need to win the general election.

Sanders’ campaign message has struggled to break through Clinton’s long-held support in black and Latino communities. But his campaign now says millennial Latinos are galvanizing support among Hispanics.

“We’re going to surprise a lot of people,” said Cesar Vargas, Sanders’ Latino outreach strategist. “We’re seeing amazing energy in Nevada that is really reflective of what we’re seeing across the country.

“High school students are getting active and literally dragging their families to get registered. On college campuses in Vegas and Reno we’re seeing a really organic grassroots coalition for Bernie. We are demonstrating that there is no firewall.”

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/14/bernie-sanders-las-vegas-rally-hillary-clinton-nevada

[SoLeftIAmRight]

1. Firewall Berning down

winds of change feeding the flames

[MrMickeysMom]

2. YUUUUUG!

[cantbeserious]

3. We Us Together - Vs - No Can't and Impossible -- The Choice Is Clear

eom

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, TubbersUK.