Bernie Sanders addresses a huge crowd in Sacramento, California. Photo via US Uncut.
More than 15,000 supporters of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders gathered in Sacramento's Bonney Field stadium in California as part of an event organized by the senator's campaign ahead of the major primary in the state next month.
While the event was not covered by mainstream media, photos of the rally shared on social media websites by supporters showed a major turnout that seems as a testimony that Sanders campaign is far from over and in fact continues to generate support.
Nathan Wellman, a Los Angeles-based journalist, reported that more than 10,000 people were waiting outside the stadium as the venue was fully packed.
“Spirits at the rally remained high, however, as attendees cheerfully destroyed the white male 'Bernie Bro' stereotype by flooding social media with pictures of Bernie supporters of every race, gender, and age displaying their patriotism together,” Wellman said in an article she wrote for U.S. Uncut website Tuesday. She added that supporters began to line up outside the stadium more than four hours before the event had started.
Many polls have been showing Sanders losing the California primary to his opponent Hillary Clinton. However, the socialist senator has been investing significant time and money in order to boost his chances there.
The primary will take place on June 7 and a whopping 548 delegates are up for grabs, a significant opportunity for Sanders to narrow Clinton's pledged delegates lead.
Ahead of the May 10 race in West Virginia, Sanders had 1415 pledged delegates compared to Clinton's 1,705. However the latter's superdelegate count (unelected delegates appointed from the Democrat machine) far exceeds that of the Vermont senator, with Clinton's count reportedly putting her total at 2228 versus Sanders' 1454.
On May 10, Sanders won big in the West Virginia primary, handily defeating Clinton and slashing her lead in the race for the party's nomination.
"We've won a big, big victory in West Virginia," Sanders told cheering supporters that night. "The people of West Virginia," he said, "want an economy that works for all of us."
"We are in this campaign to win. And we are going to fight for every last vote in Oregon, Kentucky, California, (and) the Dakotas."
West Virginia, where 37 delegates were up for grabs, is one of the poorer states in the US, and it proved to be ripe ground for Sanders' anti-establishment message. With 89 percent of the votes counted, Sanders was ahead of Clinton by 51% to 36.1%, with his lead expanding as the night goes on.
[Compiled from TeleSUR English.]