Bernie Sanders Rally Overview

by Hana Ulep

If you are caught up with politics at all, you surely have heard of the extremely liberal presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. The fight between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton has been very heated as they are currently campaigning around America to try to win the votes of the people which will determine how many delegates they will bring to the Democratic National Convention. On Saturday, May 28th, Bernie Sanders held a rally at Santa Barbara City College, where he discussed some of the most controversial and relevant topics that exist in America today.

The rally began around 10:30 am, but the doors opened at 7:00 am for people who wanted to get a good spot to see Bernie. He had two musicians named Sarah Guthrie and Johnny Irion perform some folk music to open up the event. Then, many other people, including Justin Long and Dick Van Dyke, came to the stage to talk about current events and Bernie Sanders’ beliefs. Finally, Bernie Sanders arrived! All of the people at the rally showed extreme enthusiasm during his arrival, and it was clear everyone was so happy to be in his presence.

His speech covered almost all of the topics that exist in America. He spoke of poverty, and how there is a devastating amount of people in America who are denied basic human rights. He said that these rights are thought of by some, mainly republicans, as privileges and that every single person shouldn’t have to fight for health care, clean water, food, and a roof over their head. He also talked about women’s rights. He spoke of the wage gap, and how gender (or any other physical trait that the person has no control over) should not determine how much money a person makes at their job. He said that families should be able to get paid leave to be with their baby and still have money to live off during that time. He spoke about abortion, and the fact that no one else should be able to have control over a woman’s body besides that woman. Bernie also talked about discrimination of people of color. He said that having a darker complexion should not determine a person’s worth or how many opportunities they have in whatever they pursue in life. He also talked about how some police officers should not be feared as they are today, but seen as protectors (maybe not put in this sentence). Bernie spoke of mental illnesses as well, saying that mental illness should be thought of and handled just like physical illness, and that everybody should have the right to mental illness treatment as well as treatment for physical illness. He talked about the 1% in America that is very wealthy, saying that the other 99% should have the same rights and say in America’s decisions. Bernie said that college education should not be a privilege, and that a person’s wealth should not determine the type education of they receive. He also said that debt that many students are in today should not be as immense as it is, and spoke of how he would fix that problem. He said that elders who would like to retire should be able to, and gave examples of elders that he knew that had been trying to pay it off their entire life. Lastly, he spoke of the oil companies and how we need to put a tax on carbon in order to save the planet, as the planet is our only home and we must treat it with respect.
As you can see, Bernie Sanders’ views on all the topics he spoke of are all very liberal, and that he truly wants the best for everyone is this country. Being in the presence of him and so many other people (6,000 people were there) who had the same views as myself was an experience like no other, and I am so happy that I got to go to such a wonderful event. It was clear that Bernie Sanders’ image for the future is truly “A Future to Believe In.”