Fresh eyes at the Bernie Sanders rally in OKC
by Nadine E. Gallagher
Special to The Gayly
Bernie Sanders returned to Oklahoma on Sunday for a rally at the Cox Convention Arena. After learning a few lessons in Tulsa, the lines moved smoother; security was fast, and lots of volunteers and staff were evident with signs and directions. The arena filled up quickly and at noon a Cox arena employee estimated the crowd at about 5,000.
The arena was filled with music and lively people waiting to hear the Senator speak. Many people had homemade signs, several in particular stood out “Bernie: Fighting 4 Me since 60's” “Queers 4 Bernie” but the young boy with the sign that read “Bernie today is my 8th birthday, can I have a hug” tugged at the heart. I asked Victor Gorin, an attendee, why he was supporting Senator Sanders and he answered, “Because it really matters who wins this election – he is a man of the people.” His sentiment was echoed by the people in his section.
As the afternoon progressed the arena continued to fill with a steady stream of folks filling seats in every lower seating area. A volunteer, Leo Loveless, told me, “My love for Bernie runs way deeper than changing the country, even though I want change for my nephews, neice; knowing that I might not see the changes in my lifetime. I want the changes for all the minorities in this country who are facing second class citizenship; black, Latino, LGBT, Muslims.
“Coming from a white person, I’m a minority because I’m transgender but it’s disgusting what we do to minorities today. Slavery, we didn’t end slavery we found a more malicious way to do slavery by prisons, and we do it legally and ‘humane’.
“He’s a human being, for a politician? He’s a human being first. He hurts, he feels passionately, he has children and wants to see the world better for them. For 35 years he’s been fighting the same thing on the floor of the House and Senate; never changing his stance, opinions, everything has always been the same. He didn’t change for this campaign; he’s not going to sugar coat it for anybody. Most of all, coming from an atheist, for the first time I feel spiritual about something, I feel like hope.”
The entertainment for the afternoon began with several Native American dances followed by a distinguished panel of introductions by Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, Representative Mike Shelton and finally Senator Connie Johnson introduced Senator Sanders who took the stage to a thunderous applause. The audience was filled with every age bracket from infants to senior citizens. The Oklahoman referred to the rally “as if a rock concert married a Thunder game and gave birth to a Bernie Sanders political rally in Oklahoma City.”
Bernie greeted the crowd by remarking “a beautiful crowd and a loud crowd.” He reminded the assembled throng that democracy is not a spectator sport and that the political culture in America needs to be changed because too many have given up on the process itself. He also spoke about the federal minimum wage and called it a “starvation wage.”
He spoke about pay equity for women, paid family leave, and childcare. He spoke to his finances and was not surprised when the crowd knew his average donation is $27; his donations are important because he does not have a PAC or Super Pac. He told the crowd, “There would be nothing that would give me more pleasure than to defeat Donald Trump.”
He also spoke to those who might be losing hope and told them that the campaign is just beginning. He said “We will win because love trumps hatred.”
He left the stage to deafening applause and a hopeful audience; but as he left, accompanied by his wife Jane; he shook hands, took pictures, signed autographs. There was a young middle school aged boy standing next to me in the rope line who refused to give up his spot, he argued with staff and his parents, he stood his ground to get a picture with Bernie. A great many conspired to make sure he got his picture…and he did. Persistence and commitment can win the day.
The Gayly – 2/29/2016 @ 11:43 a.m. CST