Screen_shot_2016-01-22_at_11.12.48_AM.png

If Facebook can be believed, there will be 2,300 Portlanders rallying for Bernie Sanders at noon on Saturday in Pioneer Square.

Sanders’ Portland supporters will join other US cities that have scheduled Jan 23 rallies and marches as part of a nationwide day of support. The first Democratic primary caucus is scheduled for Feb 1, and Sanders’ supporters are rallying to “make a united stand before the polling begins and show Bernie how much Oregon supports him,” according to the Facebook post.

There’s a long list of speakers scheduled for the rally, including Portland Transportation Commissioner Steve Novick, Representative Rob Nosse (D-Portland), Milwaukie Mayor Mark Gamba, as well as several local activists and a woman named Barbara Van Raalte, who is apparently a “personal friend” to Sanders.

Other participating cities don’t have nearly the predicted turnout Portland’s got, including Seattle (there are 556 people RSVP’d on their Facebook page), Los Angeles (196 RSVP’d), Dallas (just 19 people), Denver (960), and Des Moines (115 going).

Sanders will address supporters at 3 pm on a nationally broadcasted livestream. Mcmenamins Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan, will show his speech. Events at the Mission will start at 2:30 pm, according to the web page.

Sanders, who was once considered a long shot to receive the Democratic nomination but is gaining on Hillary Clinton in the polls, is picking up supporters left and right, including Killer Mike, Noam Chomsky, and (of course) Tommy Chong.

6 replies on “Rally for Bernie Sanders Saturday at Pioneer Courthouse”

  1. I just read that Michael Bloomberg will make an independent run for president if Sanders wins the nomination and faces off against Trump or Cruz. So there really is very little chance of Sanders becoming president.

    I like Bernie, but we have to be realists and keep the GOP out of the White House for as long as possible…the Republican Party is self-destructing, don’t throw them a lifeline! (if I may mix my metaphors)

  2. Dammit Todd, don’t you dare be sincere. Especially when it’s just another one of those “Bernie’s awesome and all, but let’s be practical” tropes.

  4. If we had a 6-3 progressive majority on the Supreme Court, I might say “throw that democratic socialist hail mary pass!” But may I remind you that we have a 4-5 progressive minority on the court? And that if we lose one more, it’ll be 3-6? That’s not a trope, it’s a clear and present danger.

  5. You have to ask yourself, am I and my family better off after 30 years of Neo-Liberalism and crony Wall Street capitalism? Is America?

    The Legacy of Reagan and the Clinton third way has just about ruined this country. Liberal Democratic aspirations are now what used to be the Republican party’s platform.

    In a quest for Wall Street campaign donations the Democrats have moved so far right they have driven the Republicans even further to the right. And the country into the ditch.

    The Clintons have been bad for Democrats, bad for democracy and bad for the American worker. They don’t fight for the American working class as the Democratic party had done for a hundred years. The Clintons decided to follow a new path, the so called third way. Rather than address Reagan’s ending enforcement of the Sherman antitrust act and the fairness doctrine, his doubling of payroll taxes while cutting the top marginal rate, massive defect spending on a hugely increased defense budget, and doubling of the nation debt which had been paid down to just 35% of GDP. All failed policies in hope that trickledown economics would make things better for the average American was wrong. We had these ideas before.

    So I jumped for joy when Clinton was elected. And what did I get? Something even worse. Triangulation. For more than two decades we have tried “triangulation” not just as a strategy but as a philosophy. What has it gotten us the Republican party has moved further and further right and the Democrats have been right behind. I say no longer will I be complicit in watching my country be dominated by transnational corporations and their neoliberal agenda. Triangulation is strangulation. Not standing up for what we believe has led to the boiling frog syndrome. The water is hot. Time to get out before it boils. Time to vote for Bernie Sanders.

Comments are closed.