As a rule, i generally try not to talk much about politics to many people. I keep this rule for two reasons. The first, is due to a somewhat general lack of knowledge. It’s not that I’ve never dipped my toe into the realm of politics throughout my college career. Quite the opposite really. Despite being an English major. I’ve managed to sprinkle a lot political science type courses into my schedule. The problem with that is, well it's just a sprinkle. What I possess is a general knowledge of the political field that is Just enough for me to sound like I know what I'm talking about and to form some opinions, but not enough to really understand. One of my strongest beliefs is that opinions formed based on general knowledge is dangerous because substance creates way too many problems.
The second more trivial reason is politics hasn't been able to keep my interest long enough to want to argue for any particular site. Sure, I registered as a Democrat but in retrospect my stance on things tends to swing depending on the issue we're talking about. Politics, being something that people take very seriously, is never something taken lightly and differing views can escalate into arguments very quickly. It's an atmosphere that I try to avoid. So, when my roommates came and asked if I was going to the Bernie' Rally, I was hesitant.… It’s not that don't support him. (He's probably one of the best candidates in this particular election in my opnion). I just didn't really want to be thrown into such a heavily charged space. Still I was very happy I decided to go to the Bernie Sanders Rally at Temple University this past Wednesday because while atmosphere was, as I thought it would be, very charged, the people at the rally managed to ignite a political hope that I had never felt before.
What was really interesting was actually standing in line to get into the rally. It was supposed to be held at the Liacouras Center in North Philadelphia and doors opened at 5 PM. Bernie was not actually scheduled to speak until about 8 to 9 PM. The problem we encountered when we got there was finding the end of the line. We didn't quite realize that the line would stretch for about 10 blocks. Not only did it wrap around entire center, but it went down the street, around the corner and somehow passed the YMCA building blocks away. While walking along the line trying to find the end we meet some cool people. Some were selling Bernie shirts and buttons. Some were trying to encourage other people to register to vote. There was even a guy dressed in a suit with the papier-mâché Bernie head. The same guy got called up to stand next to Bernie when we finally did see him later so it was kind of funny.
We stood for about an hour before it finally started to move to let more people into the Center. As you're standing, people would drive by shouting, “Bernie!!!!!” causing everyone in the line to start chanting his name or his slogan “feel the bern”. We had just gotten back to the Liacouras Center when an official stopped us and said that the entire center had been filled up and that we would have to go to the runoff building across the street. This was a huge surprise to just about everyone, as the Liacouras Center can fit about 10,000 people usually with no problems. At first everyone in the crowd from us on back, because the line had definitely kept growing while we had been standing there, was disappointed because we thought we wouldn't be able to see Bernie. Then another guard came out and said that Bernie would speak to everybody in The runoff building first before he went over to the Liacouras Center. This would not be his full speech as he still did have to give his official rally at the center but he wanted to make sure that he got a chance to talk to everyone who have come out to see him that day.
Not only did we managed to fill up all of the seating in the runoff building, but there are several people, my friends and I included, who were forced to stand on the balcony ledges and stairs in order to hear what Bernie had to say to all of us. The small speech that Bernie gave us was filled with chanting and cheering as almost everybody in the venue look to be between the ages of 18 and 30 with the majority of them being college students. But stuck with me the most was the realization that the votes that he gained in Pennsylvania would for the first time in the last couple of elections be very important as to whether not Bernie would be picked as Democratic presidential candidate. Just the idea of knowing that my vote would actually matter in this instance was heartening to say the least and now I can't wait for the primary. Just in case you didn't know the Pennsylvania primary takes place on April 26 so anyone of you who are registered to vote in the state make sure you get to the polls that day. Bernie is counting on us.
