Bernie Sanders thanks Vermonters at rally
April McCullum
Free Press Staff Writer
ESSEX JUNCTION – Bernie Sanders enjoyed a thunderous wave of local support Tuesday night as he waited for the outcome of the most significant day of his presidential campaign.
Thousands of people gathered at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction to welcome Sanders home.
"I want to thank all of you for the love and the friendship that you have given our family," Sanders said. "You have sustained me."
It was Sanders' first major campaign event in Vermont since last May, when he officially launched his bid for president on the shores of Lake Champlain.
The Vermont senator often reminisces about the start of his presidential campaign — no money, no organization, little name recognition, he likes to say — and the unlikely start of his political career as Burlington's mayor in 1981.
On the night of Super Tuesday, he spoke to people who remembered both of those events well.
"When we were out on the lake, we were at 3 percent in the polls," Sanders said. "We have come a very long way in 10 months."
High school students, college students, young families and longtime Sanders fans filled the exposition hall. Twentysomethings shuffled around with beer and hard cider. A giant American flag hung from one wall.
The tone of the event was celebratory, even defiant, though election results had just begun to pour in from the 11 Super Tuesday Democratic state contests.
"Bernie always proves the pundits wrong," said Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's.
"Look where we are now. They were wrong, and Bernie was right," said Vermont Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Dunne, joining the political pundit-trashing.
Cara Simone of Burlington, who said she'd been following Sanders since his days as Burlington mayor, said a strong victory in Vermont for Sanders would send a message to the nation.
"We know this person, and we have that much faith in him," Simone said.
Sanders won Vermont, handily, and early projections suggested he might sweep all 16 of the state's delegates. Rival Hillary Clinton was projected to win Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia.
"By the end of tonight, we are going to win many hundreds of delegates," Sanders said at 7:41 p.m.
His campaign strategist Tad Devine set the target lower, at 300 delegates out of 865 up for grabs Tuesday. He kept expectations low for southern states, where Devine said voter familiarity with Clinton gave her an advantage.
"If we don't get 300 delegates, I think it's going to be a very steep hill for us to climb," Devine told reporters. "We're going to continue in this race."
The rally also featured warmup speeches by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter, Burlington teacher and Vermont teacher of the year Rebecca Haslam, and performances by Ben Folds and local musicians Kat Wright, Brett Hughes, Dwight Ritcher and Nicole Nelson.
Congressman and Democratic super delegate Peter Welch, D-Vt., supports Sanders but missed the hometown party due to work in Washington, D.C., and an "iffy" weather forecast.
Welch personally picked up the telephone at his office on Tuesday night and was eager to hear what happened at the rally.
"I'm really disappointed I wasn't able to be there," Welch said.
Sanders paid tribute to his home state several times in his speech. He said he was proud to bring "Vermont values" to the rest of the nation through his campaign, and he took note of Town Meeting Day, Vermont's local political tradition that coincided with the presidential primary.
"In Vermont, billionaires do not buy town meetings," Sanders said to cheers. "In America, we are going to end a corrupt campaign finance system."
As he closed the speech, Sanders sounded relaxed, despite the stakes. He was looking forward, he said, to catching up with old friends.
Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank