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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Bernie Sanders’ grassroots movement reaches Gainesville

<p>Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, poses for a photo at a rally, Sunday, July 26, 2015, in Kenner, Louisiana.</p>

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, poses for a photo at a rally, Sunday, July 26, 2015, in Kenner, Louisiana.

Gainesville is “feeling the Bern” as Gainesville Wants Bernie, a local group, is hosting a meet-up Wednesday at High Dive bar per request of Democratic Party nominee Bernie Sanders.

The meeting comes as part of Sanders’ pro-grassroots campaign, which has asked Americans nationwide to organize on Wednesday and hold conversations on how to start an “unprecedented grassroots movement.” 

In Gainesville, this will culminate at High Dive bar located in downtown Gainesville, 210 SW Second Ave., starting at 7 p.m. and continuing through the night. 

At 8 p.m., Sanders will hold a national broadcast that will be played on every TV, but between that, patrons will have access to entertainment in the form of live music and full bar functionality. 

Molly Victoria Vise, a 21-year-old UF biology senior and event coordinator, said the event is meant to educate residents and students alike on Sanders’ platform and the issues affecting America. A student coordinator for the political action committee People’s America, Vise said she feels that Sanders is someone she can get behind. 

“He speaks to millennials,” Vise said. “He’s the first candidate I’ve ever witnessed that made me feel like he’s putting youth issues at the forefront.” 

Vise said she was worried about hosting the event at High Dive, a 450-person capacity venue, because it may have been too big. Now, with more than 600 RSVPs on Facebook and dozens more through the Bernie Sanders campaign website, the issue becomes handling the overflow.

Gainesville Wants Bernie is being run as an event for the Progressive Gators, a hopeful student organization of which Vise will be the president. They are expecting to go fully public in Fall but already have a constitution and the framework in place. 

The goal is to establish a long-lasting progressive movement on campus bigger than any one candidate. 

Recognition for an independent candidate was a main issue, with Sanders always in the shadow of big names like Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. He has created such attention, though, that the media has to listen, Vise said. 

“He’s going to become impossible to ignore. I’m certain of it,” Vise said. 

Fred Byrd, 25, a fourth-year UF mathematics graduate student who will also be taking a leading role in Progressive Gators, said he believes Sanders has a real chance to speak out to communities and make real change. He calls Sanders an authentic politician who really cares about the working class.

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He is focused on the important issues like the economy and the working man, Byrd said. 

“Bernie Sanders has really pulled me out of political apathy and made me believe in American democracy again,” Byrd said.

High Dive will be fully functional, Vise said. There will be a special guest speaker, who is yet to be determined. The musical stylings of The Duppies will be there for entertainment. Apart from that, there will be a raffle and a food truck present. 

Vise said Sanders represents new ideas, at least for Americans. 

“For me, he represents the turning of a page,” Vise said. “If we could get him elected, when we do get him elected, it’s going to feel like a breath of fresh air.”

[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 7/27/15]

 • One of his main platforms is the raising of minimum wage to $15 an hour. 

 • Sanders, now 73, won the mayorship of Burlington, Vermont, by just 10 votes. He witnessed Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech in person and led protests against segregation in schools in the ‘60s. Most recently in 2010, he gained prominence for holding a good-old-fashioned filibuster against the Bush-era tax cuts.

 • He stands as the longest-serving independent in Congress, although he’s contending for the Democratic Party nomination.

 •He stands second in the Democratic Party nomination race at 15.8 percent of support, only behind Hillary Clinton’s 58 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.

 • Also of note, Sanders has been consistently drawing the largest crowds out of any potential presidential nominee. In Phoenix, Arizona — a predominantly red state — 11,000 supporters came out to see his speech, about double who turned up for Donald Trump’s speech a week earlier, according to The Associated Press.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, poses for a photo at a rally, Sunday, July 26, 2015, in Kenner, Louisiana.

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