On July 29, Bernie Sanders supporters in Long Island were promised a rally for the history books. Never before had a political candidate held such a widely received speech, especially not this early in the campaign. Over 100,000 people RSVP'd to watch the event at over 3,500 locations across the nation. Sanders' rally was streamed into homes and businesses, libraries and apartment buildings. He connected with supporters in states he has not even visited yet, and introduced his ideas to a good number of new supporters.
This was my first political rally, and it was underwhelming. I had expected 120 people to show up, all fired up, and "feeling the bern." Instead, what I got was a quiet library room filled with a fraction of that number.
Before the stream, our host asked us if there was anything we wanted to discuss. There were some spirited arguments from a Millennial, some older people, and many teachers, all of whom discussed issues pertinent to themselves: voter turnout, social security, and education reform. The positions taken were to be expected—the usual crowd for a rally supporting a Democratic-Socialist candidate. Rallies, especially those for extremist candidates, seem to be especially good at creating echo chambers where political thoughts are not challenged, but amplified.
Another fascinating thing about the rally was the diversity; by fascinating, I mean disappointing. Of the approximately 60 people who attended the rally, four were non-white, myself included. This speaks volumes to the progress Sanders still needs to make, not only in Long Island, but also across the nation. Sanders, like many other candidates, lacks diversity in his supporters, which is especially surprising given his history with the Civil Rights Movement and other such campaigns. Among minorities, Sanders’ name recognition is extremely low. While the Sanders campaign is working diligently to increase its prominence among black and Latino communities, those in the area were either unaware of or unmotivated to attend the Wednesday night rally. Sanders made an effort to appeal to the minority community with his choice of introducer, a black woman who also happened to host the event in Washington D.C. Sanders undeniably has a great record with providing support to minority movements, but his name recognition is still abysmal, something Sanders should fix by upping his staff.
Speaking of his staff, therein lies another issue with the streaming event: it was poor planning to have an event intended to be this large on a weekday night. Sanders represents the working class, and it seems counterintuitive to hold a rally during the workweek.
There is a lot to learn from this event, from organizational issues to support building; despite this, Sanders stands for the majority opinion. That being said, if Sanders really intends to become president of the United States, he needs to continue his fight and incorporate the minority population into his supporter base. His record is solid— people just need to hear about it.
