Bernie killed it in Illinois today

With almost 20,000 supporters at the Bernie Sanders rally at the University of Illinois today, there is no doubt that that Senator Sanders has plenty of support from residents of Champaign-Urbana and the University.

The line of supporters, which stretched from the opening of the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) and past memorial stadium, included people who waited from two to five hours in hopes of securing a place to stand inside of the gym.

Supporters could be seen wearing various shirts and buttons to support their chosen candidate.

Before attendees started to move into the gym starting at 11 a.m., I had the chance to speak with some of the supporters. While walking along the line of patient people, I had the chance to talk with senior and Student Body President, Mitch Dickey. After asking Dickey what he thought Sander’s chance of making it to the general election was, he said “Bernie has some of the biggest barriers to overcome, especially with Hillary and her campaign. She is part of the political machine. And you obviously have the super delegates that are a massive part of it right now.”

Joining Dickey, along with friends, was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Illinois Student Senate who told me she advocates Sander’s plan for free college tuition and argued that Sander’s supporters are not only young people, but a mixture of ages.

The crowd was so huge that some supporters were unable to make it inside the gym, and Bernie stepped outside to speak with them about global warming and how the future generation of the earth is is responsible for taking care of the planet.

As anticipation for Bernie’s arrival inside the gym heightened, fans held up various creative signs to show their support, and chanted “we want Bernie” and (similar to I-L-L, I-N-I) “B-E-R, N-I-E.”

Before Bernie spoke, various supporters gave testimonies for Bernie’s campaign and explained why they chose to support Bernie in his race for the presidency. After Bernie was introduced, he entered the gym and the crowd greeted him with pent up anticipation.

Bernie began his speech by saying his campaign is trying to make American history. After being asked what the average campaign contribution from a city is, the crowd shouted “zero dollars” and cheered. Bernie told the crowd: “I love your response because that response and that reaction and that reality is enormously important. We are funding a wining national campaign without being dependent on Wall Street.”

He spoke of a loss of almost 600 jobs in nearby factories. “It is not a sexy issue, I know, but this issue could wipe out our trade policy for 30 to 40 years.”

One of the most popular topics was the issue of minimum wage in America, and unequal pay for women. Bernie said: “Someone who works 40 hours a week should not be living in poverty, end of discussion. This is why we need to end the minimum wage, starvation wage.”

One of the central topics of Bernie’s speech was taking “big money” out of politics. He admitted he’s often asked how he plans on raising the minimum wage and making public college tuition free. “We must impose a tax on Wall Street speculation. Wall Street breeds recklessness that helped them destroy our economy. And guessed what happened? The government bailed them out.”

Not only does Sanders plan on making public college free and raising minimum wage, he also plans on raising social security because “living on 11,000-12,000 dollars a year is a little scary” and providing health care our veterans need.

A large aspect of the rally was also climate change, which Sander’s expressed his concern for. “Not one republican candidate agrees with the scientists.

“Not one republican candidate that is running for president has the guts to tell the American people that climate change is real. It has everything to do with a corrupt campaign finance system.” Bernie claims if candidates told the truth about what was occurring in our climate, they would lose funding from large corporations.

But one of his most fiercely held beliefs is equality for all. “Other candidates say how much they love families, but I want everyone in this room to understand what they mean. What they mean is that no women in this room, state, or country, from their perspective, should have the right to control their own body.

“Well, I disagree. What they also mean by advocating families, is that our gay brothers and sisters should not have the right to get married. I disagree.”

The most important issue according to Sanders, is that “America is the only country without Universal Health Care to all people.” He explained to the crowd that although people disagree with him, “health care is a right of all people.”

Bernie also spoke about Donald Trump, and his disapproval of selfishness and not helping each other, two things that are very opposite to the overall themes of his campaign.

Ending his speech, Bernie said: “If the Illinois election has a large turnout, we will win. Make sure there is a large voter turnout. Thank you very much.”