Last Wednesday in San Jose, California, 5,500 people endured 90 degree heat to Feel the Bern.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' rally was organized in less than two days and hosted Californians determined to support a presidential candidate deemed doomed by the punditocracy. To be fair, Sanders has an atom-thin path to victory. But after a win in Oregon, a virtual tie in Kentucky, and packed rallies in Stockton, Sacramento (where 21,000 people showed up), and Vallejo, the frumpy socialist boasts momentum before the most crucial contest of his astonishing campaign.
Sanders earnestly announced his presidential aspirations to a small gathering of press last April, and has since garnered unprecedented support, receiving donations from two million people (even more than U.S. President Barack Obama) and capturing nearly 10 million votes. (That's three million less than Clinton, but far more than most people expected.) Sanders is GOP frontrunner Donald Trump's mirror image: His anti-establishment rhetoric has awakened a side of America thought not to exist in such numbers. But unlike that narcissistic boil-in-bag yam who constantly lies, mocks, and divides, Sanders pledges to unite the 99 percent with compassion.
He wants to corral Wall Street, reverse Citizens United, raise taxes on the wealthy, double minimum wage, extend paid family leave, close the gender wage gap, overhaul our biased justice system, maintain abortion rights, expand Social Security, fight climate change, universalize healthcare, and make college tuition-free. Plus, he doesn't care which bathroom you use. He voted against the Iraq War and Wall Street bailout. He defended gay soldiers in ‘95. And he’s fought for civil rights since the ‘60s. Sanders polls better than rival Hillary Clinton against Trump—even Fox News viewers think he’s the closest candidate to Jesus.
From the get-go, Sanders' supporters have caught negative characterizations. We're told they're starry-eyed freeloaders, cyber-bullying "Bernie Bros" and death-threatening rabble-rousers—and they’re almost all white. But at Sanders' San Jose rally, which was akin to a thrown-together music festival, that wasn't the case. I asked 14 people from this oft-maligned constituency why they still Feel the Bern:
Interviews have been edited and condensed. Some pseudonyms were used to protect privacy.
Complex: Why do you think Bernie’s “revolution” is necessary?
Juan Vila, 25:We've tried so many things that haven't worked. There's so many people that really don't feel like the government is for them, or helping them, or in any way representing them. So it's time for change. Anything is better than what we're moving towards now, which is the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, and people not being taken care of.
Cauveri Suresh, 18:It tells the Democratic Party that your constituents want something more than the moderate, centrist candidates that we've been getting. The politics that we've been seeing, that's not enough for us.
Ryan Augustine, 31:It’s an environment where things aren't happening. It's just an incremental change one way, then an incremental change back the other. It's give and take. And that's a good balance, but I'm more of an idealist and I want things to happen.
Alice Katz, 35: I think some people are scared of a revolution. And it's like—I'm scared of the way things are. So I don't find a revolution that scary.
So even though he’s nearly mathematically eliminated, why do you still feel it’s important to show support?
Kassandra Robinson, 36:I think that if you don't try, then that's even more problematic. So I think that people who actually support him need to show up and vote. We're not going to make a difference if we don't even try.
Sharon McGinley, 36: More than anything, it's communicating to our kids that some of what people are saying—and what's happening—are not values that we share. And that we can do something about it. It's important for your voice to be heard, even if it's not the popular voice.
Priya Kaleka, 38:For the longest time, these issues were there, but nobody was paying attention to them. And for that reason, I'm really grateful. He's been the spark, but hopefully it will grow into this bigger movement.
Cauveri Suresh, 18:Last summer, we really saw him adapting his racial justice politics after being criticized by Black Lives Matter. So we just really have a good, strong example against which we can hold other future candidates in terms of not using Super PACs and making the campaign about what the people want.
What about Bernie makes him different from other politicians?
Craig Webley, 26: I like his compassion towards everyone—based not only on the views that he's had for the past 30, 40 years, but also the actions that he's taken as an activist for Civil Rights, getting arrested, marching in Washington. He wants to do a lot of things for the greater good, for the wellbeing of America, and for the future generations as well.
Taylor Webley 27: You can really trust him. I feel emotionally connected to him. He is not afraid to take on the people who don't agree with him because he's got nothing to lose. He's for the people. He's not going to be bought by these big corporations.
Cauveri Suresh, 18: I think if we have Bernie Sanders, the compromises he would make would be an actual meeting in the middle. I think Clinton meeting a Republican in the middle is actually already on the right. Anyone in politics has to use incremental progress. I just think that he would be starting at a different point, and the progress that he would be making would go in a different direction.
Sharon McGinley, 36: He wants people to be a part of the process. And he wants to make an effect for the people whose voices aren't heard.
Juan Vila, 25:Occupy Wall Street brought a lot of this stuff to the national attention. And that was sort of squashed because people thought it was a bunch of kids that were sort of crazy. Now, there's an actual established politician that's been around for a while saying the same things, and that really lead to his message becoming acceptable.
Edison Tran, 29:Bernie commands respect because he gives you respect. He's willing to understand where the other party is coming from. Countless Republicans have said that even though they might not agree with his ideas, they respect him. He's an honest man. He means what he says versus someone like Hillary and even Donald Trump. Depending on what meeting or rally they're at, they'll say a couple different, contradictory things.
A lot of people have condemned his policies as too radical, why don’t you feel that way?
Thomas Stern, 21:I'm graduating from community college next year. And I'm $35,000 in debt. $35,000 in debt. And damn. I didn't even start my bachelor's degree yet, let alone my masters. By the time I'm done, I'm buying like two fucking Lamborghinis.
Deborah Craft, 45: I don't feel like businesses are doing their fair share. I just feel like they're getting all the tax breaks, but they're not giving anything back. If they do you wrong as a young student, then you're like, 'This is what I have to look forward to from businesses.' And that's a problem.
Juan Vila, 25: Even if you look back at when Ronald Reagan was president, the taxes corporations paid under his presidency were wayhigher than they are today. So you can't really say that this is a radical crazy idea. It's something that has happened before that slowly was taken away, or minimized. As far as taxing the rich, that's not a novel idea. All other first world countries, have free healthcare, free education. They actually have policies that help their citizens so what he's saying isn't that radical. It's something that could fit within American politics. The majority of people support single-payer healthcare. People want to be covered and be able to go the hospital doctor when they're sick.
Alice Katz, 35: Our whole culture has gotten to be so focused on greed. And in other countries, people have learned to be more cooperative—share the wealth, share the power, and everyone is happier. People get six-week vacation, and they love their jobs because they don't feel taken advantage of.
Many others have chided his followers for being too idealistic, what do you say to that?
Juan Vila, 25: I believe even if he was elected, a lot of it probably wouldn't happen within his presidency, maybe not even within my lifetime. But I think he would set us on the right track to make some of these policies actually feasible. Maybe not exactly the way he says, but somewhere closer to that than we are now.
Katie Trinble, 28: I actually came to see what other supporters are like. And I really am liking the energy and the vibe. It's made me feel really confident about my choice. I will put my voice to what I support, no matter what odds are stacked against it. I'm fine with pie-in-the-sky, that works for me.
Ryan Augustine, 31: Some people say that what he wants is too far, it's too much, it's too big of a change. But when you try for something farther out, and you get more done. Same thing I tell my daughter: If you always reach your goals, then you're not pushing yourself far enough. And he's pushing himself. The ideas push clear out there, and to get part of the way is good. It's that way with anything in life.
What do you think of Hillary Clinton?
Sharon McGinley, 36: I'm jaded, but I'm hopeful that he will force Hillary to actually listen to what the people want. I don't know, though. When I say it out loud, it makes me think, "Yeah, maybe not."
Veronica Christie, 25:At first, I was kind of leaning towards Hillary just because she has more experience in the office. She knows how to run around and pull strings to get policies, but because of how flippy-floppy she's been with the ethical needs of the people, I just haven't been really attracted to her.
Thomas Stern, 21:I'm in that demographic where if she became president, it'd be like, "Oh, whatever I don't care." But I didn't trust her last time, I voted for Obama.
How about Trump?
Deborah Craft, 45: We know that Donald Trump is not talking about anything. It's just a bunch of hyperbole and a bunch of attacking. And that is not a leader that I could stand for because I just don't trust people like that.
Thomas Stern, 21: People say, "Oh Donald Trump, he just speaks the truth, he speaks his mind." But every time he speaks his mind, it's different from what his mind was last week. So that doesn't really count as keeping it real. That's just keeping it thoughtless.
Veronica Christie, 25: I wasn't concerned (about this election) until I heard Trump was running. And he definitely has very unethical, hate-infused ways of looking at our country. He's very inconsistent and very broke. Even though he pretends he's full of money, it's cosmetic.
Juan Vila, 25: Bernie is not a racist bastard that wants to build a wall between here and Mexico, or wants to keep out all Muslims. He's not sexist the way Donald Trump is. In terms of policy, Trump, he's a rich guy. He wants to keep the rich, rich.
