12 October 2024
SUPERIOR — Nearly 300 people headed to Superior High School on Saturday, Oct. 12, to hear from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
The longest-serving Independent in the senate made the trip to Superior to encourage residents to have conversations to persuade friends and family to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during the Nov. 5 presidential election.
“Let me cut to the chase and tell you that Wisconsin is up for grabs,” Sanders said. He said the last three polls had Harris and former president Donald Trump tied. Previous polls had one or the other leading by small margins, he said.
“So what happens here in Wisconsin is likely to be decided by a very small number of votes, and you can make a difference,” Sanders said. “So what I am here to ask you is to do everything you can in the next few weeks to make sure Kamala Harris wins Wisconsin. And if she wins Wisconsin, she has an excellent chance of becoming our next president, which is what we desperately need.”
Sanders spent more than hour engaging the crowd gathered in the Performing Arts Center at the high school.
A resounding cheer rose through the auditorium when Sanders said he didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time talking about Trump.
“Let me kind of briefly state the obvious,” Sanders said. He said as parents are raising their children to tell the truth, not be bullies and to treat people with respect, he said the question is whether the nation needs a president who a pathological liar is “who lies every single day” and picks on people who are vulnerable.
He said other reasons to vote for Kamala Harris includes Trump’s inability to accept the results of the 2020 election.
“Not only did he deny that he lost the election, but he fomented an insurrection — I know, I was there — to overturn the results of that election,” Sanders said. “We do not need somebody in the White House that is an authoritarian personality and does not believe in American democracy. That’s another reason to vote for Kamala Harris.”
Third, Sanders said Trump’s denial of climate change as a “hoax” is dangerous and will result in other major economies surrendering if the United States does.
Sanders spent nearly 40 minutes talking about the economy, income inequality, healthcare, and engaging the crowd on issues that affect their pocketbooks.
“Today, we have 60% percent of our people who live paycheck to paycheck,” Sanders said, before asking Superior residents what it means to live paycheck to paycheck.
The audience shouted back a variety of words: Stressful, pick your bills, food or medicine, debt, uncertainty, homelessness and living in survival mode.
“There are millions of people, every single day, living in that reality,” Sanders said before giving the audience the reigns to ask him questions.
A retired physician said one of the things that concerns him is private equity firms getting into healthcare.
“The issue of the corporatization of healthcare is a huge issue,” Sanders said. He said Steward Health Care is one example where some guy made hundreds of millions of dollars while bankrupting dozens of hospitals all over the country.
One man shouted that he wanted to hear more about women’s rights.
“Historically, we have not paid enough attention to the healthcare needs of women, but in this campaign, one of the issues is whether or not women will determine their own healthcare needs, whether they will have control over their own bodies or whether that’s going to be surrendered to the government,” Sanders said. “Obviously, that’s an issue Kamala Harris feels strongly about, and I feel strongly about it.”
The economy, education, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and green energy all got attention from the audience and Sanders.
One nurse and educator asked how workers can put pressure on the government to ensure issues are addressed.
“We’re taking on very powerful forces that are concerned about one thing and one thing only — they want more wealth for themselves and more power over the economic system and the political system,” Sanders said. “And the only way that I know how to defeat that is when we organize together.”
And Sanders encouraged people to just say what they know.
“The election in Wisconsin will be decided by a few thousand votes,” Sanders said. “Wisconsin could literally determine the final national election results. And I would hope in the next four weeks, you do everything you can to bring your neighbors and friends … Let’s win Wisconsin. Let’s win our country.”
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