20,000 Sanders supporters in Oakland today "not ready to throw their support behind Clinton"

[Miles Archer]

At least 20,000 Bernie Sanders supporters gathered at Oakland's Frank Ogawa Plaza to hear the presidential candidate speak.

This was the second of two Bernie Sanders events in Oakland on Monday, and this one was moved up to avoid being at the same time as the Warriors game.



"If we can win here in California, our largest state, one of our most progressive states, we will go into the Democratic Convention with a great deal of momentum and we will come out with the nomination," he said. "In virtually every state and national poll, we do much better against Trump than does Secretary Clinton."

:large

The math may be against them, but there's no give-up in those here who are feeling the Bern. They're not ready to throw their support behind Hillary Clinton, at least not before the convention.

http://abc7news.com/politics/estimated-20000-people-attend-bernie-sanders-rally-in-oakland/1362730/

[asuhornets]

2. 60,000--yea, right...jeezz

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Hillary gets 60,000 all the time!

[tokenlib]

5. But that was for the lunch special speech to the small bankers..n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. That's a lot of bankers.

[tokenlib]

9. Oh no, that was the fee...only six showed up to hear her...n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. LOL!

[Hydra]

18. *Zing!* n/t

[rhett o rick]

19. LOL. And they had their fingers in their ears. nm

[CentralMass]

11. Add anothe zero and you have her speaking fee.

[mhatrw]

92. 100,000 would be more accurate

https://www.facebook.com/vanjones/videos/10154218363934910/

[asuhornets]

17. there are 40 million people in CA..

Hillary's small rallies have served her well---wouldn't u agree..?

[findrskeep]

69. K & R

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. George Clooney's small rally served her very, very well.

[Miles Archer]

40. He didn't handle the backlash from that well at all.

George Clooney admits money he raised for Hillary Clinton is 'obscene'

Speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press, the actor was asked by host Chuck Todd whether the sums involved in his events, such as $353,400 a couple to be a “co-chair”, were, as critics and protesters have said, obscene.

“Yes,” he said. “I think it’s an obscene amount of money. I think – you know that we had some protesters last night when we pulled up in San Francisco and they’re right to protest, they’re absolutely right, it is an obscene amount of money.

“The Sanders campaign when they talk about it is absolutely right. It’s ridiculous that we should have this kind of money in politics. I agree, completely.”

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/17/george-clooney-hillary-clinton-fundraiser-obscene-money

[JDPriestly]

33. Her name recognition and the fact that this is her second national run for

a Democratic primary have done her well.

She has not done well at all if you remember that while many of us listened to Bernie on Thom Hartmann's show for years, we did not think of him as a presidential candidate or associate him with the presidency at all until a little over a year ago.

He came out of nowhere and is running neck and neck, possibly ahead of Hillary. She is not doing well at all considering her head start.

[rhett o rick]

20. There are lots of Americans that love what Sen Sanders stands for. And that scares

the Oligarchy and their minions. Most Americans don't trust Hillary Cinton-Sachs.

[asuhornets]

23. "the Oligarchy". why do you keep using that word. Noone speaks that way.eom

[asuhornets]

51. Sanders says something--and the next thing you know his supporters are repeating

here -- verbatim.

[asuhornets]

61. You are the one looking foolish.Most voters are not talking about the billionaire class or oligarch

[asuhornets]

64. Your candidate is the one losing--u r the one that's digging..

[bahrbearian]

87. Things like "Pie in the Sky" and "Never Ever"

[rhett o rick]

27. Not in your bubble of denial. Did you read the Princeton Report that stated that

this nation is no longer a democracy but essentially an oligarchy? Big Money runs our government. Tell me it doesn't. Tell me that the $150,000,000 that the Clintons received from billionaires and corporations wasn't intended to influence. Do you even know about Citizens United?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. People with large vocabularies do.

"Oligarchy" has a specific meaning, and it's good to use words that are specific. We are living in an oligarchy but unfortunately a lot of people can't seem to recognize the fact.

[Fawke Em]

38. Jimmy Carter does.

[itsrobert]

53. I use to scan the AM dial looking for "liberal" political talk

Landed on some guy that goes by the name of Michael Savage. He used "Oligarchy" plenty while describing the Clintons in the 1990's. I see where he gets it from.

[asuhornets]

55. I see... I knew it!!! nt

[notadmblnd]

36. Hey, I hear Bill drew a throng of 1000 today

Now there's some numbers to be proud of!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

39. Throng or thong?

[mhatrw]

91. 100,000 would be more accurate

https://www.facebook.com/vanjones/videos/10154218363934910/

[QC]

4. Isn't Oakland right next to Vermont? Or something? n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. CA surrounds vermont

didn't you know that?

[Kittycat]

13. Vermont is CA's home state

[QC]

16. And artisanal maple syrup, right? n/t

[QC]

31. I've heard their hybrid vehicle run on maple syrup.

But only if it's artisanal, organic, and fair trade!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

60. How do they keep the maple syrup from gumming up the fuel injectors?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. Birkenstock-wearing, Volvo-driving, man-bun-styling white male hipsters

make up the entire population of Oakland, which is actually in Vermont.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. Artisanal man-buns appeared first in Oakland.

Have you seen the vast kale and arugula gardens that grow there?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

57. Is that you??

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

59. Well, whoever it is has a nice smile.

Being bald saves you from the scourge of a man-bun.

[skylucy]

71. Are you kidding? The photos of the RALLY look predominantly white but

Oakland is 53% black and hispanic. It is 34% white. I live in the Bay Area not that far from Oakland. Anyone who lives in the Bay Area knows that Oakland has a large minority population. Why in the world would you say that Oakland is predominantly white? If you don't believe me, just google Oakland Ca demographics.

[JDPriestly]

42. It is 34.5% white, 28.2% African-American, 25.4% Hispanic, 16.9% Asian

plus 25.9% "non-hispanic" whatever that means.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland,_California

Who said Bernie only appeals to white people?

[JDPriestly]

94. As in much if not all of California. Certainly we are a minority in my neighborhood.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

48. The crowd of 20-30K people was comprised entirely of

white middle-class male college students who were wearing man-buns and Birkenstocks and eating Vermont maple syrup and kale sandwiches on artisanal gluten-free bread while waiting in line for the rally.

[Prism]

84. Some were, lol

There was a group waiting in line passing a joint right in front of the cops on 13th Street. I thought that was pretty ballsy.

[JDPriestly]

96. At least they weren't staggering around drunk.

If the choice is between marijuana and alcohol, as one who imbibes in neither, I prefer that others uses marijuana. Alcohol abuse is responsible for so many deaths in our country.

[JDPriestly]

95. That would be a dream. Lots of nurses and teachers and students who care about the

world and whether, as Bernie said in Santa Cruz, we will care enough about the environment to save the human race.

Feel the Bern!

[beltanefauve]

93. I've heard it said

that over 120 languages and dialects are spoken in Oakland. It's diverse as can be.I lived there for several years and miss it, too.

[jfern]

72. It's a small mostly white village next to Vermont.

[QC]

74. I hear they have great maple syrup!

And I've always wanted to go to Oakland in September to see the famous fall color.

[CountAllVotes]

77. 60K strong

and HRC cancels events in New Jersey & comes running to California ...

[2banon]

80. And I'm right over there.. can you see me wayyyyyy in the back taking pics of peoples

backsides, cuz I'm too damn short to shoot over head! LOl.

It was an AWESOME event today. effin Awesome!

[CountAllVotes]

81. Right on!

This fellow Oaklander says Feel The Bern! I'd expect nothing less from My Town ... Oakland that is! Thanks for being there! It means a lot!

[Prism]

86. Yay, we're in that pic!

We were lounging next to the photographer's stand near the giant tree.

And . . . right in the sun. Doh. I had spf several billion on. A ginger-haired friend was not so lucky.

[2banon]

90. I wish we had coordinated in advance

with other Du'rs .. But I was also celebrating my daughter's birthday, 45 years old (omg) on memorial day.

Bernie's event held in the late afternoon was perfect timing.

I LOVED seeing the beautiful blend of humanity supporting Bernie, across the spectrum of age, race, gender.

Did you see the guy with the Bernie puppet? His wife made it, and he was obviously quite the puppeteer, did a comedic impersonation. it was great. ran into him down in the Bart station.

How'd you like the "F**K Trump shirts?

[George II]

8. You should look at a map of Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Where did "60,000" or even "20,000" people...

...stand?

https://www.bing.com/mapspreview?cp=37.804568%7c-122.271834&style=h&lvl=15&v=1

[rhett o rick]

22. It really bothers you that Sen Sanders can draw large crowds of regular people and

Hillary meets in secret with a few big money fat cats. It's a class war and you've chosen the wrong side.

[ucrdem]

41. So where are the port-a-johns?

Did those 60,000 just happen to have bladders of steel?

[jillan]

45. That is so sweet of you to worry about where they went potty.

[GoldenSF]

49. Yup

It was pretty dehydrating out there in the hot sun. Not sure how all of us made it through, but yes people were waiting for 3+ hours in line.

[Prism]

65. Behind the giant tree

Near the metal detectors and water station. You can't see them because of the tree, though.

[zigby]

83. We got in line over by Lafayette Square.

We were within a block a of that park for abt 1hr until line started moving for real. There were public toilets in Lafayette Square, and as the line snaked around for many blocks, there were opportunities to go pee. We stopped off at Burrito Express for a pee and a soda. The crowd was exceedingly mellow, friendly, and clean. I'm sure no business turned anyone away, and we all purchased something anyways.

Is there anything else I can tell you about the urinary habits of strangers, or are you good?

[Miles Archer]

50. I can haz speech munee? (Sorry, I'm not that good at LOLcats)

H-> / Blankfein 2016

[George II]

88. It doesn't bother me when (if) he draws big crowds, it bothers me when they make up the size...

...of the crowds.

It should bother you more that the "crowds" that he draws don't trouble themselves to actually vote.

BTW, last month I went to a "secret" rally with Bill Clinton - there were about 100 people there, I didn't see any fat cats. A few days later Clinton won our primary.

[Prism]

24. Massive, massive overflow

I was there. It was totally insane. There were crowds standing out on Broadway when we left.

[jfern]

73. I was standing just outside the fence.

[Prism]

82. I'm surprised we got in

We arrived at 1pm, and there was already a massive line wrapping around the worker's food mall outdoor thingy.

But we snagged a nice view. In the top pic of the OP, there's a guy with a red shirt on the photographer's stand towards the right of the picture. I was on the ground next to him. Unfortunately the black umbrella is blocking us from the pic, lol.

[Txbluedog]

34. Hope he reminded them that they need to go out and physically vote

Tweeting their vote doesn't count

[JonLeibowitz]

43. You don't hope that.

[GoldenSF]

47. Clinton Rally-20 min wait, Bernie Rally - 3.5 hr wait

My folks went to a Hillary rally in San Jose last week. It took them 20 minutes to get in no problem.

It took me 3 1/2 hours waiting in a line that snaked around for blocks in Downtown Oakland to get into Bernie's rally. For a candidate facing daunting odds to win the nomination, he sure brought out a huge crowd - especially when he was competing with the other huge Oakland event of the day, the Warriors playoff game. My fellow supporters around me weren't sure we would make it through security into Frank Ogawa Plaza, but somehow we made it. Seeing him in person was worth the wait under the blistering sun .

[brooklynite]

52. Of course, Clinton people seem to be willing to show up and vote...

[NanceGreggs]

66. Ssshhhhhh!!!

Some people haven't figured out yet that rally attendances do not equal votes.

[oldandhappy]

70. Good for you! A thrill, eh?

I was lucky to go to a smaller rally last week so got away with just a major facial sun-bunt, smile. Peeling now. I am delighted for you that you got in and that your gave us this first hand report.

[Sparkly]

68. Poor babies.

Democracy is SO unfair.

[upaloopa]

76. "at least not before the convention." You forgot some words. Makes a difference.

[litlbilly]

78. wow 77 replys and I only see 6. The Hillarians must be out in force tonight. I wonder what

they are saying? Must be wonderful things I would guess

[CountAllVotes]

79. Running to CA takes time

and money!

[VulgarPoet]

89. Y'know, I keep adding them to my ignore list but damn if they don't keep getting off somehow... eom