NoVA Crowds Cheer Bernie Sanders Ahead Of Super Tuesday 2020

SPRINGFIELD, VA — Thousands of people turned out Saturday afternoon to see Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at a rally in Springfield as part of his barnstorming effort to win as many states as possible on Super Tuesday when voters go to the polls in 14 states and the territory of American Samoa, including delegate-rich California and Texas.

After holding a rally in Massachusetts midday Saturday, Sanders, the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic nomination, traveled to Virginia to join Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) at a late-afternoon rally at the St. James Sports Complex.

In Saturday's South Carolina primary, former Vice President Joe Biden appeared to come in first with 52 percent of the vote, while Sanders finished second with 17 percent of the votes.

Omar began her speech in Springfield by leading a chant, "I believe that we will win," referring to Sanders' chances in Virginia and other primary states on Super Tuesday. "We are going to win because we are building a movement that is multiracial, multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-religious," she said.

The Minnesota congresswoman also took a swipe at pundits who describe many of Sanders' supporters as Bernie Bros. "They will say this is a campaign about Bernie Bros," Omar said. "If that's the case then count me in as a Bernie Bro."

Omar also contended that Sanders has inspired a whole generation of people to return to the political process. "We are motivated. And we are mobilized. And we are activated to create a different tomorrow," she said.

When he took the stage, Sanders called Omar "one of the greatest people I know." He then joked: "I don't know what I can say that Ilhan hasn't already said. So I'm going home."

Sanders spent a large of his speech attacking President Donald Trump. He noted that Americans have different opinions on many issues. "But we don't have a difference of opinion that the president of the United States should not be a pathological liar. We don't disagree that the president of the United States should not be running a corrupt administration," he said.

Sanders also accused Trump of thinking he is above the law. "Today, we say to President Trump, 'Sorry, this is not an autocracy. This is a democracy.' And in November we're going to see what a democracy looks like because we are going to throw you out office."

Saturday's rally also included Virginia state Del. Lee Carter (Manassas), who cited Sanders' Medicare-for-all plan and his long-time support for trade unions as reasons he is endorsing the Vermont senator.

In the crowd, Johnny Watson of Crofton, Maryland told Patch he supports Sanders' positions on Medicare-for-all, criminal justice reform and college debt forgiveness. He voted for Sanders in the Democratic primary in 2016 and plans to do it again in 2020.

Watson accused the mainstream media's of unfair coverage of Sanders' campaign. "The whole Bernie Bro narrative and how we're so aggressive and angry and all white males. That’s not fair," said Watson, who is African American. "As you can see here, there are a lot of men and women, different races and we’re here altogether."

William Pfeiffer, 18, of Springfield said he came to the rally to support Sanders' campaign for president. A high school senior who will be voting in his first presidential election, Pfeiffer said most of his classmates are Sanders supporters.

"People tend to undervalue his ability to win just because he is so far left. Just looking around here, it's proof there's a large amount of support for him," Pfeiffer said.

Betty Romero, a school teacher from Dumfries, said she supports Sanders because of his long-time support for basic human rights, including Medicare-for-all, women rights and the LGBTQ community. "I have to believe that good will triumph. And America is for all people and he is for all people," she said.

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Tiffany Parker, who drove from Warrenton with her husband to attend the rally, said Sanders, if he wins the Democratic nomination, could defeat Trump in the general election because his platform appeals to a broad swath of America.

"If people listen up, they’ll realize that a lot of his polices are there to benefit them, especially compared to Trump’s policies of taking things away from people," Parker said.

A Monmouth University Poll of likely Virginia Democratic primary voters, released Feb. 18, showed Bloomberg and Sanders tied at 22 percent, followed by Biden at 18 percent, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 11 percent, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 9 percent and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 5 percent. The survey also found 11 percent of those questioned undecided.

But a new poll released Friday shows Virginia voters favoring Biden in Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary. The findings from the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University show the former vice president leading the field at 22 percent, followed by Sanders at 17 percent and Bloomberg at 13 percent.

Virginia voters have a history of supporting centrist Democratic candidates for president. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary in Virginia in a landslide against Sanders in 2016, getting 64 percent of the votes compared to 35 percent for Sanders.

Sanders made a stop in Richmond on Thursday where nearly 5,000 people filled the Arthur Ashe Center to show their support for the Vermont senator. After leaving Springfield, Sanders traveled to Virginia Beach for 8 p.m. Saturday rally. On Sunday, Sanders is holding a rally in San Jose, California at noon Sunday followed by an event in Los Angeles with legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy at 5 p.m. Sunday.