OfTheCross
Veteran
I'm watching online now...Skipped straight to AOC and Bernie...crowd looks hype
Official Bernie Sanders HQ: Not Me, Us!
- Thread starter Berniewood Hogan
- Start date
New Jeruzalem Journalist
Superstar
You don't wanna miss Nina either. Michael Moore was pretty good too.
Pretty much everyone that spoke did a great job with the exception of Carmen Yulin Cruz, the Mayor of San Juan. She was kinda bland and choppy in her delivery to be honest. But everyone else held my attention the entire time.
The rally today gave me hope. It felt like the day he launched his campaign back in February.
I have never felt so inspired by a candidate. We got a once in a life time candidate here and a shot to finally head in the right direction.
We can't mess this one up. Really hope people are paying attention.
BTW, Nina turner is fukking amazing. Man, I really hope if Bernie wins he puts her on the ticket. Her words are powerful.
I have never felt so inspired by a candidate. We got a once in a life time candidate here and a shot to finally head in the right direction.
We can't mess this one up. Really hope people are paying attention.
BTW, Nina turner is fukking amazing. Man, I really hope if Bernie wins he puts her on the ticket. Her words are powerful.
Secure Da Bag
Veteran
drop out you cis old white man
storyteller
Veteran
Alright yall, notes from the live at the Bernie rally:
- My crew got there around 11:30 and we were basically part of the first big wave of supporters heading in to the park. It was a big group and that meant we got to position ourselves pretty close to the stage. We had clear views of every speaker and surprisingly comfortable spacing for something like this. At festivals, you get in that close and you get crowded heavy. People generally respected your space in this crowd even after it filled in.
- First notable thing was the madness at the entrance. Across the street you had a handful of protesters as we entered, but it was embarrassingly small at that point. We're talking 5 maybe 6 people. As the line moved in, it was like a free for all of activist groups trying to hand you pamphlets and get you to sign up or volunteer supporting different issues. But at the same time, you're in a mob that is constantly moving forward.
So you've got people rushing through mini "sell my cause to you" speeches and shoving clipboards in your grill while you're trying to move forward and not lose your place in line...it was kinda overwhelming. Everyone had good causes but within a couple of minutes, I was treating everyone like I was trying to get through 42nd street in a hurry. No eye contact with anyone, shoulders squared with whatever open space you're moving for and decline anyone that tries to stop you direct as hell so you can keep it moving.
- First musical guest in a still mostly empty park was kinda awkward. Dude was an opener through and through, had issues with the sound and that contributed to me thinking the rally might go off the rails. The second performer was the "Lights Down Low" guy though and you could tell he knew how to rock a crowd. Dude was all energy. But it's noon on a Saturday and we all woke up early, so good effort but the crowd was still weak. Faiz Shakir getting up was the first sign of life from the crowd tbh...the dude with the EDM drops on his hooks? Nah. Faiz lets us know the speaker line-up though? Hype!
- Then there's another pause because of the glare from the sun. It was extra nice out but that meant reading speeches was gonna require some creativity to block out the sun glare. That delay got me even more nervous...but then people started speaking.
- So as soon as speeches started, the crowd went from sleepy to hype. Michael Moore is sometimes cringingly corny but he had the crowd eating out of his palm with those Boomer lines. He also took a lot of the meme critiques of Bernie and clapped back at them which got the crowd wired.
- Carmen Cruz was a speaker that I was hype about (Puerto Rico reppin'). But her speech was a little disappointing in that it dragged. The crowd was kinda at fault because they wanted to start chants as much as an incumbent party wants to break out into applause at the state of the union. Cruz did have a really great line "I'm not a climate change activist, I'm a climate change survivor!" When it came to climate talk that she closed out on, she was great. Coulda been more direct.
- Nina Turner stole the whole rally though. I'm not sure if it translated through the screen, but at the rally what we're talking about is crowd control. She knew when to take pauses, she actually moved around the stage instead of standing at the podium and she mixed in inspiration with firing pretty clear shots at Warren and Buttigeig (sometimes stringing the critiques together in ways that could cause Warren heads to conflate the shots fired and get offended tbh). I'm sure that her style will anger supporters of candidates that feel slighted, but in terms of while we were there? Nina got more pop than anyone else outside of AOC and Bernie's most recognizable lines.
Just to expand on this...I spoke with multiple people at the rally and on the walk out who were so fired up by her performance that they felt Nina is the top choice for VP. She was THAT good live. She also had a dope moment putting light on the NYC Squad and bringing them all up one at a time for an introduction (most notable would prolly be Julia Salazar).
- Tiffany Caban's speech was interesting...it was like a comedian's warm-up opener. She didn't focus much on any policy or cause, but moreso on the inspiration of AOC. Her whole talk was about how AOC inspired her, supported her and showed interest in how Caban would have represented her constituents rather than her donors. Then in the last few lines Caban tied that to Bernie, but it was a AOC hype speech for sure.
- AOC was great too. The standout for me was speaking about her mother born in Puerto Rico and father born in the Bronx (while the Bronx was burning). She talked about her family all pooling money together to get her to a private school and how shocked she was comparing her world to the zip code she went to school in. Then she mentioned her father getting sick and how far back that knocked her family back. It was relatable and effective imo. From was to Bernie, what Caban was to her. It was a dope way to build up Bernie but also saved the big lines for Bernie (that may be why Nina Turner outshined her live).
- Then Bernie got on and as soon as he mentioned 20K people in the park, we decided to work our way out of the crowd and watch from the street. That was a bit of a mistake because I wound up really distracted being in awe at the crowd itself. The crowd was incredibly diverse. It was definitely mostly white, but every race had significant representation out there. Every age group was reppin' too, Boomers down to babies with their parents. The male/female distribution felt pretty even as well. It was a far cry from how heads even on this board like to treat Bernie's supporters' image.
I stress this because I've seen even some activists that I really like try to push the narrative that Bernie's not suitable to lead a multi-racial coalition. Reading tweets like that after leaving being in that crowd is just frustrating. It's not a question of "can he?" he already has a multi-racial coalition with a staff to reflect it too.
In terms of the speech, it didn't reinvent the wheel. The magic was in the energy of the crowd. By the time he walked off stage, we were on the street side so I missed that madness. But in general, the most striking thing about his presence was just how it invigorated a crowd that had been on their feet for a couple of hours minimum. The enthusiasm is crazy and infectious.
- Finally, it's worth stressing how often the refrains were focused on unity and positive movement. There was an attempt to start a "lock him up" chant at one point, but the speaker squashed that and replaced it was a "we will win" chant or something generic. Every speaker welcomed all races, creeds and genders. We got Green new deal, BLM and tax wall street chants throughout the day. The positive vibes were heavy.
Anyway, it's a dope experience to get into one of these big rallies. I went to Bernie's announcement party in 2015(16?) at a park in Englewood, NJ last time and there were maybe 20 of us. To head into a park a few years later and it's 20,000 of us...that's really something.
Final, final note...I came with people that aren't as big on politics as me and they really had fun. They got into it with all the chants and enjoyed the messaging. On the way out, they got PISSED because AOC's Republican challenger or a wannabe challenger at least, had joined the protesters (all 12 of 'em) with a megaphone and was yelling socialism memes at people as we exited. The big takeaway for my friends was that they'd left a place with nothing but uplifting speeches about helping everyone, to see that kinda negativity on the outside. I kinda took that for granted, but the new jacks saw that as a standout moment.
- My crew got there around 11:30 and we were basically part of the first big wave of supporters heading in to the park. It was a big group and that meant we got to position ourselves pretty close to the stage. We had clear views of every speaker and surprisingly comfortable spacing for something like this. At festivals, you get in that close and you get crowded heavy. People generally respected your space in this crowd even after it filled in.
- First notable thing was the madness at the entrance. Across the street you had a handful of protesters as we entered, but it was embarrassingly small at that point. We're talking 5 maybe 6 people. As the line moved in, it was like a free for all of activist groups trying to hand you pamphlets and get you to sign up or volunteer supporting different issues. But at the same time, you're in a mob that is constantly moving forward.
So you've got people rushing through mini "sell my cause to you" speeches and shoving clipboards in your grill while you're trying to move forward and not lose your place in line...it was kinda overwhelming. Everyone had good causes but within a couple of minutes, I was treating everyone like I was trying to get through 42nd street in a hurry. No eye contact with anyone, shoulders squared with whatever open space you're moving for and decline anyone that tries to stop you direct as hell so you can keep it moving.
- First musical guest in a still mostly empty park was kinda awkward. Dude was an opener through and through, had issues with the sound and that contributed to me thinking the rally might go off the rails. The second performer was the "Lights Down Low" guy though and you could tell he knew how to rock a crowd. Dude was all energy. But it's noon on a Saturday and we all woke up early, so good effort but the crowd was still weak. Faiz Shakir getting up was the first sign of life from the crowd tbh...the dude with the EDM drops on his hooks? Nah. Faiz lets us know the speaker line-up though? Hype!
- Then there's another pause because of the glare from the sun. It was extra nice out but that meant reading speeches was gonna require some creativity to block out the sun glare. That delay got me even more nervous...but then people started speaking.
- So as soon as speeches started, the crowd went from sleepy to hype. Michael Moore is sometimes cringingly corny but he had the crowd eating out of his palm with those Boomer lines. He also took a lot of the meme critiques of Bernie and clapped back at them which got the crowd wired.
- Carmen Cruz was a speaker that I was hype about (Puerto Rico reppin'). But her speech was a little disappointing in that it dragged. The crowd was kinda at fault because they wanted to start chants as much as an incumbent party wants to break out into applause at the state of the union. Cruz did have a really great line "I'm not a climate change activist, I'm a climate change survivor!" When it came to climate talk that she closed out on, she was great. Coulda been more direct.
- Nina Turner stole the whole rally though. I'm not sure if it translated through the screen, but at the rally what we're talking about is crowd control. She knew when to take pauses, she actually moved around the stage instead of standing at the podium and she mixed in inspiration with firing pretty clear shots at Warren and Buttigeig (sometimes stringing the critiques together in ways that could cause Warren heads to conflate the shots fired and get offended tbh). I'm sure that her style will anger supporters of candidates that feel slighted, but in terms of while we were there? Nina got more pop than anyone else outside of AOC and Bernie's most recognizable lines.
Just to expand on this...I spoke with multiple people at the rally and on the walk out who were so fired up by her performance that they felt Nina is the top choice for VP. She was THAT good live. She also had a dope moment putting light on the NYC Squad and bringing them all up one at a time for an introduction (most notable would prolly be Julia Salazar).
- Tiffany Caban's speech was interesting...it was like a comedian's warm-up opener. She didn't focus much on any policy or cause, but moreso on the inspiration of AOC. Her whole talk was about how AOC inspired her, supported her and showed interest in how Caban would have represented her constituents rather than her donors. Then in the last few lines Caban tied that to Bernie, but it was a AOC hype speech for sure.
- AOC was great too. The standout for me was speaking about her mother born in Puerto Rico and father born in the Bronx (while the Bronx was burning). She talked about her family all pooling money together to get her to a private school and how shocked she was comparing her world to the zip code she went to school in. Then she mentioned her father getting sick and how far back that knocked her family back. It was relatable and effective imo. From was to Bernie, what Caban was to her. It was a dope way to build up Bernie but also saved the big lines for Bernie (that may be why Nina Turner outshined her live).
- Then Bernie got on and as soon as he mentioned 20K people in the park, we decided to work our way out of the crowd and watch from the street. That was a bit of a mistake because I wound up really distracted being in awe at the crowd itself. The crowd was incredibly diverse. It was definitely mostly white, but every race had significant representation out there. Every age group was reppin' too, Boomers down to babies with their parents. The male/female distribution felt pretty even as well. It was a far cry from how heads even on this board like to treat Bernie's supporters' image.
I stress this because I've seen even some activists that I really like try to push the narrative that Bernie's not suitable to lead a multi-racial coalition. Reading tweets like that after leaving being in that crowd is just frustrating. It's not a question of "can he?" he already has a multi-racial coalition with a staff to reflect it too.
In terms of the speech, it didn't reinvent the wheel. The magic was in the energy of the crowd. By the time he walked off stage, we were on the street side so I missed that madness. But in general, the most striking thing about his presence was just how it invigorated a crowd that had been on their feet for a couple of hours minimum. The enthusiasm is crazy and infectious.
- Finally, it's worth stressing how often the refrains were focused on unity and positive movement. There was an attempt to start a "lock him up" chant at one point, but the speaker squashed that and replaced it was a "we will win" chant or something generic. Every speaker welcomed all races, creeds and genders. We got Green new deal, BLM and tax wall street chants throughout the day. The positive vibes were heavy.
Anyway, it's a dope experience to get into one of these big rallies. I went to Bernie's announcement party in 2015(16?) at a park in Englewood, NJ last time and there were maybe 20 of us. To head into a park a few years later and it's 20,000 of us...that's really something.
Final, final note...I came with people that aren't as big on politics as me and they really had fun. They got into it with all the chants and enjoyed the messaging. On the way out, they got PISSED because AOC's Republican challenger or a wannabe challenger at least, had joined the protesters (all 12 of 'em) with a megaphone and was yelling socialism memes at people as we exited. The big takeaway for my friends was that they'd left a place with nothing but uplifting speeches about helping everyone, to see that kinda negativity on the outside. I kinda took that for granted, but the new jacks saw that as a standout moment.
storyteller
Veteran
This was my view. Forgot to mention that Jane got a ton of love from the crowd too.
PoorAndDangerous
Superstar
Bubububut his campaign is weakening!
afterlife2009
Superstar
Crowds and money are dope but people got to get out there and help plus vote. This is a unique opportunity to elect, even at the bare minimum, even if you don't think shyt matters, a good positioned candidate who starts from a position of people first.
afterlife2009
Superstar
storyteller
Veteran
This is one of the best Benjamin Dixon episodes in a long time.
Main bits
1. Why he was confident that AOC was gonna endorse Bernie all along and a clip from the debates displaying why Ben himself chooses Bernie over Warren (but he also states, don't alienate the Warren supporters).
2. Why he views Tulsi as problematic
3. Selling Bernie to your friends and fam by being nicer about the sell rather than hostile
4. A close out about the troll farms and being mindful of everything messing with the process for all parties involved.
I feel like Ben gets slept on a bit.