Met Senator Sanders last night.

[GoneOffShore]

Cross posted from the Lounge - http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018766862

We were working in New York yesterday and had to catch a late train back to Philadelphia(which was really late by 55 minutes - thanks for the budget to fix Amtrak John Boehner ).

I was walking out of the waiting area when I spotted Senator Sanders, with one aide, standing in the concourse, also waiting for a late train. Walked up to him, said "Good evening, Senator. I want to thank you and tell you that you've made this old left-wing, commie hippie fuck very happy. Good luck."
He smiled, shook my hand and I went to inquire about my train. On my way back, I pointed him out to the two Amtrak cops standing around and said to take good care of that old guy over there. "Why?" "That's Senator Bernie Sanders and he's running for President."
"Oh, thanks."
Bought some water and went back to the waiting area. There he was sitting near Mrs GoS, who had no idea who he was. I pointed him out, got out my iPhone and asked if he minded posing for a picture. "Not a problem."
[IMG][/IMG]

After I sat back down, the Amtrak cops came over and introduced themselves and asked if he wanted to go to the Acela Lounge.

[Ed Suspicious]

1. Awesome story! I love how you just chat him up like a regular guy, and that seems to be what

he's comfortable with.

He's not too far away from being in a position where being a regular guy can't be too easy. I find his grounded nature to be a wonderful asset as a campaigner, and I think it will serve him well as president.

[MerryBlooms]

2. rec & kick

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. I hope you paid him $1000 for your grassroots picture and conversation

......... nevermind ................ wrong candidate


Very kool story my friend.

[L0oniX]

4. LOL ...yer bad!

[GoneOffShore]

7. I was going to post in GD, but .....

I figured the Lounge and here were a lot safer and wouldn't attract slings and arrows.

[Ichingcarpenter]

17. How was his security?

Can you give us details on what , who you saw protecting him?

[sabrina 1]

10. Lol! But seriously, 'Bernie is not for sale'! That's why we love him!

[azmom]

5. Very cool story.

[Stardust]

6. I love this story! Just out of curiosity, do you know if Bernie took the Acela Lounge offer?

Thank you for sharing!

[GoneOffShore]

8. He did, although he actually didn't know about it.

The train I was catching was over an hour late and the Acela was right behind it.

And Penn Station starts to get a pretty funky vibe around 8:30/9:00 P.

[Stardust]

9. That's so Bernie!

[sabrina 1]

11. Did he have any security with him? He must have gone to NY for the Seth Show I guess. But he took

a train with one aide?

[GoneOffShore]

13. No security that I could see.

Or none that was obvious.

And the Amtrak guys didn't know who he was.

[sabrina 1]

14. That's amazing. He sure does live by his own principles. I don't think anyone would have objected

if he had hired a town car or even a taxi at this point, but he chose to take the train. I wonder if other people recognized him?

Btw, thank you for telling the Amtrak guys who he was. I hope they look him up now and see what he wants to do about our failing infrastructure.

You may have helped get him some more support!

[Ichingcarpenter]

19. That's not good

there are some crazy ass people out there.

[glowing]

12. I remember back in the day when he ran for the House, and in VT there is only 1,

so it is more like a Senate race where you run state-wide for the election. He'd drive around and work the vote... Back in that day, my mom was in the schoolboard of a small town (and town halls is where we do our direct democratic action for everything including small govt rolls and budgets), so he stopped in to talk with our family. Sat at the kitchen table while my Mom blasted him about jobs in VT... That not every tree needs protection, small family farms need protection against the big Agra-farming, and there needs to be something that brings young people and real money into the state.

Quite honestly, they need better access to Internet and technology and become a little tech state. And legalize marijuana. Those two items would help.

I'm sure he's particularly upset with the Governor (who might as well be a DINO). They got the waiver to to single payer, and then the Gov decides, well I can't make it work, so I'm going to attack small schools. He now wants to close a bunch of small schools and create larger supervisory schools to save money. It's going to cause kids to have bigger class sizes and sit on a bus for an 1 1/2 for commuting. Plus he's done nothing about improving towns ability to access cell phone usage OR access the Internet. My parents can't get either where they live and they aren't a random oops... Many small towns don't have access. And it keeps people from being able to market their products to the outside world, limits kids ability to do homework, and keeps the population in a negative free fall.

I only hope that the backwards direction of the Gov isn't going to reflect negatively on Sanders. The guy is truly an asshole. He comes from my county, and was a jack ass back then. All about his own self.

[Faux pas]

15. Kickin'

[Playinghardball]

16. Almost twins...

[aquart]

18. Wish wish wish it had been me.

[Voice for Peace]

20. lordy lordy

I hope he gets some security at some point.. or maybe
he can slip through crowds unnoticed by the Wall Street thugs.

Other than concern for his safety, how cool of a story is
that! May the winds stay at his back and keep him safe
and get him into the white house too.

[darkangel218]

21. K&R!! What an awesome story!

Thank you for sharing!

[Jefferson23]

22. I am so happy for you, that must have been so fun. K&R