Bernie Sanders is Too Big for Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Portland)

[ghostsinthemachine]

Bernie Sanders is Too Big for Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Portland)
A lot of Portlanders want to see Bernie Sanders this weekend. How many? Too many to fit in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The rally for the Vermont senator and surging Democratic presidential candidate is this Sunday, August 9—and the campaign just announced a change of venues.

Sanders was originally scheduled to speak at the 12,888-seat Coliseum, but Sanders’ campaign today announced it's progressing (get it? GET IT?) to the nearby Moda Center, which seats 19,980. (More or less.)

Sanders’ website doesn’t list the total number of people who have signed up, but a since-deleted tweet said 9,000 people RSVP'd for the Rose Quarter rally within the first 48 hours of its announcement.

The rally is scheduled to begin at 6 PM on Sunday. RSVP quickly. Portland doesn't have any bigger stadiums.

(UPDATE: Well, that joke was factually unstable. Providence Park can seat 22,000, but the Portland Thorns are playing at 6:30 pm. Sorry, Bernie.)


http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-33564-bernie_sanders_is_too_big_for_veterans_memorial_coliseum.html

[jalan48]

1. So will this make it on the corporate media?

[Enthusiast]

3. No

[chknltl]

7. YES it has:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251497823

[jalan48]

8. Great to see! I was thinking more on a national scale to show the enthusiasm.

I think regional coverage will be good in the NW because of the number of progressives. Seattle has a socialist for a city council member. Go Bernie and thanks for the update!

[valerief]

9. I think only foreign presses are allowed to write about Bernie.

U.S. press still has no idea who he is, apparently. He's like a million-person antiwar march. Invisible.

[artislife]

11. These crowd are just filled

with people who are curious...not supporters

[Half-Century Man]

2. Not surprising.

I was at the Madison event when he topped 10,000 for the first time.


By next summer he'll be packing Soldier Field in Chicago.

[cascadiance]

18. The Bern will be out blazin' the Blazers on Sunday at the Moda Center!

[merrily]

4. Thanks, gitm.

Does "factually unstable" mean incorrect?

How many times have I told you just to hang up whenever Frank Luntz calls?

[Babel_17]

5. Can't say I totally understand this great surge for Sanders

I'm guessing it has to do with people giving up in disappointment with our regular political class, and the institutions that keep them in control.

[Maedhros]

10. Give people something real to vote FOR, and this is what happens.

Give them a LOTE argument, and you get apathy and low participation.

[sabrina 1]

14. It's very simple to understand. The American people support overwhelmingly, FDR

policies, on HC, Education, Social Safety Nets, and a majority do not want this country at war all the time all over the world.

Actual polls show that someone with a message that sounds like FDR will be overwhelmingly supported by the American people, across the political spectrum, ON THE ISSUES.

They always are turned off by the DISTRACTIONS we are served up by the Corporate Media, see last night, then see the reaction from the left eg. Nothing about Issues, all about personalities.

They want to talk about ISSUES.

Bernie FORCES the Corporate Media tools to allow him to focus on the issues, see Chuck Todd who tried three times so far to get him to talk about Hillary eg.

He's tough, he's passionate, and most important of all, he HAS A RECORD going back decades to show he isn't just TALKING for the CAMPAIGN.


He also names names, unlike any other candidate who dances around issues like Wall St's influence on our government eg.

He can do that because is the ONLY Candidate who walks the walk, who won't take their tainted money.

What surprises me is why anyone IS surprised at his growing popularity with voters as soon as they get to know him.

[Babel_17]

15. I like your reply, it's just that this surge for Sanders is hard to pin down

I think it partly has to do with there being a vacuum, people don't see the system or its biggest players as being credible. I think the Ross Perot of '92 could sweep the Republican primaries.

I don't see anyone else catching on enough to compete with Sanders on filling this vacuum. So he'll have the label of "outsider" all to himself.

I was a kid when Bobby Kennedy ran but I got to shake his hand. People were fearful and they were pinning their hopes onto him. I'm getting a similar vibe from the Sanders movement. I don't think it's mostly about the details of the issues yet. The nation has been through tough times, and with tough times ahead for many, and people want the reassurance of having someone they trust, someone with a character to challenge the system, as President.

It's just fascinating how Sanders has come to so naturally be this candidate. I'm still trying to fully wrap my mind around it.

I'm happily displaying his bumper sticker and doing the Five Dollar Friday for Bernie Sanders by way of the DU Sanders Group link. This is a rare political movement and I hope people are taking notes.

[sabrina 1]

16. I think that DC insiders AND the Corporate Media are either so out of touch

with the American people they had no IDEA of the ANGER there is among a vast majority of the people, or they are so out of touch with the people they simply don't get it.

If they KNOW this, and they caught a glimpse when Occupy spread so fast, like wildfire across the nation AND even the world, (same phenomenon as Bernie) they feel they have ensured their POWER so completely that they don't even have to acknowledge the anger of the people.

If they are so clueless that they DON'T realize and believe the rhetoric about 'recovery' and have moved on to enjoy their spoils of war and Wall St corruption, they they must be very, very puzzled by Bernie's continuing rise in popularity and the diminishing interest in their chosen 'gatekeeper' candidates.

Bernie DID understand this. He stated it often when he first ran, that there is a huge anger among the people. Because he IS in touch with them, always has been, AND not being part of the ruling class, he identifies far more with the people than the BOUGHT candidates do.

Eg, a friend of mine was a victim of the Mortgage scam, lost her home, illegally, received no compensation, no bailout, was eventually offered $800 in what the Gov claimed was a great program to compensate Main St for their losses. What an INSULT. She refused it as did many, many others to the point where they had to RAISE the 'payoff' to $3,000.00.

If anyone thinks that people like my friend have 'moved on' from this, then they are out of touch with real people.

Disgusted with politics and politicians in general who did NOTHING to help the victims of the Wall St Criminals, watching the Government BAIL THEM OUT with Trillions of dollars, while offering the victims a PITTANCE, she didn't vote, because in the end, she had to find a way to get back on her feet with no help from the government. And she knows she will NEVER MAKE UP for what Wall St Criminals took from her.

That is just ONE small example of the anger and frustration out there. I know, no one talks about all the millions who lost their jobs, homes etc and who will never regain their previous financial status because of CORRUPTION aided and abetted by the people who are supposed to protect them.

I could go on, but simply put, there is huge anger and justifiably so. They think the people do not notice the two sets of laws in this country?

That they don't KNOW that the money in politics is BUYING our government for the Wealthy? Donald Trump explained how last night, not that he needed to.

Bernie KNOWS all this, he has tried to do something from his position in the Senate, but he has little backing since most of his colleagues are BOUGHT.

What I'm saying is, people hear Bernie speak and they are finally hearing a politician acknowledging their existence. Imo, it really is not all that surprising.

There WAS a vacuum I agree but it was the lack of acknowledgement of how badly the people are doing overall, and the lack of ACCOUNTABILITY for Wall St Criminals AND for many, for War Criminals.

The propaganda says 'we have moved forward'. Really? No, we have not, and we will not until we see some REAL CHANGES.

[Babel_17]

17. Thank you, I think you've hit on a great framing of the situation

I'm not so much unaware of anything you said as I'm just not in contact with a large number of people outside my own, not very large, community. I read a lot about this but it's not the same as people directly sharing their experiences. Sanders is catching on faster than I expected and in order to fully grasp his rapid rise it's important to understand the electorate he's talking to. I always thought his message was great, and I figured it would be popular with progressive primary voters.

Senator Sanders campaign is being more effective than I'd hoped for, and the general public is more receptive at this stage of the game than I'd have thought possible. This is pretty great stuff.

I think the establishment is both a bit clueless and echoing Karl Rove's "we create our own reality".

They stick to the established narratives for campaigns and thus reinforce their seeming inevitability. Some of them learn, and it's from them that we'll see coverage of this historic campaign.

[ybbor]

6. I didn't realize there were so many Ron Paulites in Portland

Feel the Bern people!

[artislife]

12. *chortle nt

[SoapBox]

13. Cool!

Talked to a co-worker today about Bernie...

Told her about his huge rallies...she asked about HRC...I said she's getting big bucks but not big crowds!