BERNIE BRINGS THE BROS
Front-running Vermont senator holding rally on Common in direct challenge to Warren
SPRINGFIELD — Bernie Sanders will rally on the Boston Common Saturday after tapping into his deep base of support in western Massachusetts on Friday, pledging to “win here” as he makes a last-minute play for voters in Elizabeth Warren’s home state.
“As we approach Super Tuesday, there are thousands and thousands of people knocking on doors, making telephone calls,” a lively Sanders told a boisterous crowd of 4,750 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. “That is why we won the popular vote in Iowa, why we won New Hampshire, why we won Nevada. And that is why we are going to win here in Massachusetts.”
Sanders is riding a wave of front-runner momentum into the Bay State, looking to challenge Warren directly on the Massachusetts senator’s home turf on the eve of the South Carolina primary.
“It’s not lost on the campaign, the significance of doing well in Warren’s home state,” said Suzanne Murphy, a social media activist close to the Sanders campaign. “It may perhaps put more pressure on her to consider whether she wants to take her run all the way to the convention.”
The Vermont senator will look to fire up his Bros even further with a rally at noon Saturday on the Common.
Boston approved a permit for a rally of 10,000 people. Boston Police Department spokesman Sgt. John Boyle said there will be “officers on duty” at the event.
Sanders and Warren are locked in a tight race in Massachusetts, where voters will cast ballots March 3 as part of the 14-state Super Tuesday slate. A WBUR poll released Friday showed Sanders with 25% support to Warren’s 17%. A UMass Lowell poll last Friday showed Sanders with 21% to Warren’s 20%.
“The home state advantage is for Sen. Warren, but Bernie Sanders is wellknown,” said Springfield City Councilor Jesse Lederman. Citing Sanders’ strong organizing push in western Massachusetts, where he won heavily in his narrow 2016 primary loss to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Lederman said, “I think he stands a very good chance of winning.”
Sanders did not mention Warren Friday. But he made an implicit jab at the super PAC now backing her, Persist PAC, which included Boston in its $9 million, nine-market Super Tuesday ad buy.
“Our campaign does not have a super PAC. We don’t have billionaires putting money in an undisclosed way into a super PAC,” Sanders said, noting he’s received 8 million contributions from more than 2 million donors.
As Sanders supporters “feel the Bern” in person this weekend, Warren’s campaign will flood the Bay State with surrogates to help get out the vote. She will return home to cast her ballot Tuesday before heading to Michigan for a rally.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a national Warren campaign co-chair, said, “We’re taking nothing for granted, including in Massachusetts.”
Pressley said she’s “not surprised that Bernie is doing well here,” but Warren’s campaign “is built to last.”
The significance of Sanders’ visit was not lost on the Springfield crowd.
“I’m sure he wants to put a dent in Elizabeth Warren. I think he will,” said David Ludwig of Easthampton.