Bernie Sanders draws a huge crowd in St. Paul....

[Playinghardball]

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Wow! I kind of wanted to go to that

but I can't stand for long periods of time before my back starts to cramp (I'm old), and I knew there would be a huge crowd and probably no place to sit down. So I contributed some money instead.

Even though I couldn't go, I'm feeling the Bern!

[LiberalElite]

3. Yeah, this guy has no chance -

as soon as the attack ads start, all his "devotees/acolytes/groupies" will wilt like daisies in a sauna.
Besides, none of them have a life and they just wanted to get in from the cold.

[Mister Ed]

4. My daughter's there. She texted to say all seats are filled!

She and her friends are in overflow in the adjacent auditorium.

[CharlotteVale]

5. That is awesome and I just have to say I love your screen name!

[Mister Ed]

7. Thank you. I had to edit my post because I thought the rally was in the Excel arena.

That's the 18,000-seater where we saw the the Obama's do their impromptu fist bump to celebrate locking up the nomination in 2008.

When I checked, I found out the rally is in the adjacent exhibit hall. I see online that the capacity there is 4,000 to 6,000, depending on whether they have the wall open between Hall A and Hall B. My daughter says the exhibit hall is packed, and the video she just sent me seems to show that the overflow crowd has filled the 5,000-seat Wilkins Auditorium in the same complex. This is a huge turnout.

And thank you for the compliment regarding my screen name. I adopted it when I joined DU in 2005. I hoped that it would always remind me that, like that fabled TV horse of yesteryear, I should try to never speak unless I had something to say.

[CharlotteVale]

8. LOL, I still watch Mr. Ed sometimes.

[draa]

6. Any idea how many people it holds?

It looks to be a thousand or more in that pic.

[Mister Ed]

9. Yes.

The Exhibit Hall holds 4,000 to 6,000 for a reception-type crowd.
http://www.rivercentre.org/plan/floor-plans/lower-level

The adjacent Roy Wilkins Auditorium holds 5,000, and from the video my daughter sent, looks mostly full.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Wilkins_Auditorium

[draa]

10. Wow, very impressive.

Considering what've we've seen from his crowds elsewhere though it's not a surprise. Thanks.

[SoapBox]

11. There goes that fringe candidate again...stirring up trouble...

Why oh why couldn't he just be meeting with the Brain Surgeons of Wall Street? And asking for their money?



I like our shiny-fringe-object and think I'll keep him!

Go Bernie Go!

[AzDar]

12. Hillary has the Corporations, Bankers and Oligarchs... Bernie has the VOTERS!!

...And he's gon' be President!!

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. +1000000

[Mister Ed]

14. The last time a candidate packed 'em in like that in this town, he ended up President.

I was there with my family that night in 2008:



The head-count for the Sanders rally, as reported by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune this morning, was "14,000-plus". No one's quite sure how big that "plus" was; some are estimating high teens. But 14,000 is huge. A turnout even half that size would have been a triumph.

Perhaps even more remarkable was the crowd of 6,000 that showed up for his rally in Duluth earlier in the day. I think the population of Duluth and surrounding area is only about 100K - probably only a tenth of the population of the Twin Cities metro area. And Duluth is certainly not Latte-Land. It's as blue-collar a place as you're likely to find. A turnout of 6,000 in that area is astonishing.

Although Sanders is my preferred candidate, I am not the hard-core, do-or-die Sandernista that many here on DU are. But, knowing my home state as I do, I have to say that I am floored by the reception Bernie received here. It really gives me the feeling that something big is happening with this campaign.