Mitch Perry
Although Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has yet to announce any appearances in Florida, his fans in the Tampa Bay area are looking forward to seeing him next week — on video.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday the U.S. senator from Vermont will speak via video hookup to his supporters at more that 1,500 separate house parties across the country. According to Sanders campaign website, 33 such parties will take place within 50 miles of downtown Tampa.
After Sanders concludes his speech, an organizational meeting will continue for anyone who wants to stay online and discuss joining his campaign.
There also will be an event taking place Wednesday afternoon on the USF campus to discuss and learn more about the Sanders candidacy. That event takes place at noon at the Marshal Student Center USF Tampa-Main lobby.
“Bernie seems to be the only Democratic candidate, as of now, that has an actual progressive agenda,” says Mona Petrovska, 22, a USF microbiology major organizing the event. Petrovska says that although she’s really only familiar Hillary Clinton, the fact that so few major other Democrats are challenging her for the nomination is disturbing. She also says that few of her fellow students know much about Sanders’ and his proposals.
“So far most of my peers seem excited that Hillary is running simply because she is a woman,” Petrovska says. “I would be ecstatic to have a female president, just not Hillary Clinton. Her agenda is just too conservative if you ask me.”
She says she likes the fact that Sanders doesn’t accept funding from Wall Street and “won’t play nice with them, either.”
In a Quinnipiac poll published Wednesday, Sanders is performing about the same as Clinton against Republicans Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Marco Rubio in the swing states of Iowa, Virginia and Colorado. In Colorado, Sanders trails Rubio by 11 points, Bush by 6 points, and Walker by 8 points; in Iowa, Sanders is losing to Rubio by 7 points, Bush by 4 points, and Walker by 8 points; and in Virginia, Sanders is behind Rubio by 7 points, Bush by 10 points, and Walker by 8 points.
Sanders has been drawing huge crowds on the campaign trail. He says he’s trying to create political revolution involving millions of people.
