Bernie Sanders draws his biggest crowd yet — in Arizona of all places

[En Garde]

Bernie Sanders drew more than 11,000 people to a rally Saturday night in downtown Phoenix -- the largest crowd to date for a presidential candidate whose audiences have been swelling in recent months.

The Vermont senator, who has emerged as the leading alternative to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination, got a rock-star-like reception from supporters who streamed into a cavernous lower-level room of the city's convention center...

"Somebody told me people are giving up on the political process," Sanders said as he greeted the crowd Saturday night. "Not what I see here tonight."...While few Democratic elites give the 73-year-old Sanders much chance of winning the nomination, his campaign is being taken increasing seriously by the Clinton camp... Brett Barry, 50, a real-estate broker from Scottsdale, said Sanders drew such a large audience because "we're hungry here."

"Some of our liberal friends have given up because they don't think he has a realistic chance," Barry said. "I get tired of hearing that."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/07/19/bernie-sanders-draws-his-biggest-crowd-yet-in-arizona-of-all-places/?tid=hpModule_ba0d4c2a-86a2-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394&hpid=z8