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Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his presidential message to San Jose Saturday, portraying himself not just as the candidate who can beat Donald Trump but as the Democrat who can lead America’s “99-percent” in a “revolution” to take back political and economic power from the few and wealthy.
“It is sadly and absolutely true that the top 1-percent in this country has enormous wealth and enormous power,” Sanders said. “They control the economy, they control the Congress, but at the end of the day, 1 percent is 1 percent. I may not be a Nobel prize-winning mathematician, but I do know that 99 percent is a heck of a lot bigger number than 1 percent.”
Sanders’ rally in Guadalupe River Park drew an estimated 2,500 people, far fewer than the estimated 16,000 people he pulled in when he spoke at Fort Mason in San Francisco in March.
Despite the crowd size, the second-time presidential candidate still managed to fire up the crowd, which was made up people of all ages, from teenagers to parents with small children to senior citizens.
Under a warm, sunny sky, Sanders, one of California’s Democratic frontrunners, inspired cheers and chants of “Bernie, Bernie, Bernie” from the crowd with his talk of a campaign that’s “based on love, compassion and justice.”
“We have got to change the change the culture of America,” Sanders said. “I want you to be concerned about my family, and in turn I will be concerned about your family. That is what a civilized, democratic society is all about. We are in this together.”
But Sanders also drew applause and people waving blue and white signs when he abandoned some of the gentler rhetoric and denounced a familiar list of liberal villains: President Trump, Wall Street, corporate interests, very wealthy people like Jeff Bezos and the Walton family, the “criminal industrial complex,” the “military industrial complex,” pharmaceutical companies and the fossil fuel industry.
It may be that Sanders’ San Jose rally drew a relatively small crowd because the attention of Bay Area Democrats was focused this weekend on San Francisco, where the party is holding its three-day convention. Indeed, Sanders’ visit to San Jose marked a late afternoon break from the convention, where he and 13 other presidential hopefuls are making their case to party leaders and activists as the best candidate to defeat Trump.
Those who went to hear Sanders also were drawn to his anti-war policies and his messages on addressing climate change, immigration, gender equality and reproductive rights. Attendees also were treated to a lineup of cultural celebrities.
Actor, activist and San Francisco native Danny Glover offered an impassioned reading of Langston Hughes’ “Let America be America Again,” a 1936 poem about the need to spread the American dream to the socially and economically disadvantaged.
Philosopher, academic and author Cornel West praised Sanders in a fiery speech as “the real thing” — a visionary who has spent decades fighting for social and economic justice.
“Brother Bernie Sanders has a longevity of integrity,” West said. “Brother Bernie Sanders has a longevity of consistency. He’s the thermostat. He’s not the thermometer. He’s shaping the climate. They gotta catch up to him”
Then came an ice cream-related reference for why Sanders should be the next president — courtesy of Ben Cohen, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder and one of Sanders’ four campaign co-chairs.
“Ice cream is good,” Cohen said. “But a president of the United States who truly stands for justice in all its flavors? That is euphoric!”
People attending the rally came from San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga and other towns in and around the Silicon Valley, where so much of today’s wealth is being generated.
But people interviewed said Sanders’ Democratic socialism resonated because they don’t feel like that wealth has necessarily reached them. They talked about living daily with concerns about housing or health care, or about whether they could afford college for themselves or their children.
Christian Gove, 37 a web developer from San Jose, said he and his wife are not sure when they will be able to buy a house in the Bay Area, even though they earn a combined income of $150,000 from their public school jobs.
“Because we have rent control, we’re saving a lot,” Gove said. “But we feel like the economy is too overheated to buy in this market.”
While Sanders’ speech didn’t specifically address affordable housing, Gove believes the senator’s economic policies could help resolve the housing crisis in the Bay Area and in other parts of the country.
Among his proposals, Sanders wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, make sure every American has a job at a living wage and offer “Mediare for All,” a system where every American would get health care through the government.
“I feel that making it so that more people are supported, the more the whole economy can be improved,” Gove said. “That’s the problem with the housing market. All the money is going to the richest people; they’re able to bid up the market as far as they can go.”
Several teens and young adults said they appreciated Sanders’ proposal to eliminate undergraduate tuition at four-year public colleges and universities.
“That’s one reason I support him,” said Calyse Tobias, 21, who just graduated from UC Santa Cruz and is currently working as a Lyft driver to save up to go to graduate school.
Skylar Betts, 16, just finished her junior year at Salinas High School, and will soon apply to college. While her parents probably will be able to pay a fair share of her undergraduate costs, she anticipates having to take out student loans. She says she’s better off than some friends who got accepted into a University of California school but couldn’t afford to go.
But Sanders’ free-tuition plan isn’t the only reason Betts supports the 77-year-old senator. Betts has been a fan of Sanders since 2016, developing an appreciation for him by participating in YMCA’s Youth and Government program.
Like others, Betts called Sanders “genuine” and said he represents the change that America needs. “What we have isn’t working,” Betts said.
