Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders sent a strong message to his animated supporters Wednesday afternoon during a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Monona Terrace, arguing that the rabid crowd should take a hard look at issues ranging from raising the minimum wage to student loan debt.
“A lot of media portrays politics as a personality contest,” said Sanders. “We have to take a hard look beyond personalities and take a hard look at which candidate is better for working class families of this country.”
According to Sanders, that candidate overwhelmingly is Clinton.
Sanders, who won Wisconsin’s Democratic primary in April, praised Wisconsin for being one of the great progressive states of America. To maintain that title, Sanders encouraged voters to re-elect Democrat Russ Feingold to the U.S. Senate.
Sanders and Feingold, who spoke earlier at the rally, touted the promise of a Clinton administration with goals toward clean energy, affordable health care and living wages for working class families. Sanders also announced his joint proposal with Clinton that would make public colleges and universities free for most Americans.
Their proposal is designed to make college more affordable and aid college graduates that are being “punished” with “outrageous” numbers of student debt.
“Clinton, Feingold and I know the future of our country
The rally served as a crucial opportunity to convince Bernie supporters to back Clinton.
“I’m here for Sanders to convince me why I should jump on the Hillary bandwagon,” said junior Leland Raymond. “I value his opinions.”
For some students, Clinton is
“I believe she’s the best choice for the country,” said freshman Maura
Other students aren’t as enthusiastic.
“She’ll do the job,” said freshman Ehren Muehlenbrock. “Bernie would have been a better candidate.”
To transform America, Sanders encouraged supporters to create progressive movements in the next five weeks leading up to the election and continue those movements long after election day.
“We have got to elect Russ, to elect Hillary, to do more [in order to] stand up to the Koch brothers and the one percent,” said Sanders. “Our economy and political system belong to all of us, not just a handful of millionaires.”
