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[brooklynite]

1. I commented on this yesterday...

Some people dispute my assertion, but having stood in the crowd for four hours, I can say that the crowd was predominantly white.

[TexasTowelie]

2. I must admit that I thought the same as Tom Watson

when the video of the rally was posted. I advanced the video several times to watch the crowd walk into the main area and to get additional camera angles, but I did not see much diversity except when the choir was in the bleachers.

I don't know why Bernie couldn't attract a more diverse crowd in Chicago.

[RandySF]

35. Surveys indicate that African American voters are generally closer to the center than many assume.

[pnwmom]

44. For one thing, not a lot of them are attracted to the brand of socialism. nt

[George II]

3. Someone tweeted the demographics of Chicago in response to that tweet - 45% white, 33% black.

I've been following Tom Watson for quite a while, he's pretty funny AND on the mark, as are his other followers.

[oasis]

4. If they're given the message to support the eventual Democratic nominee,

I don't much care what the crowd looks like.

[California_Republic]

5. +1

[Quixote1818]

6. This photo looks off. Why are a bunch of the faces out of focus and blurred out? nt

[Autumn]

8. It's obvious why the faces are blurred out.

There's a narrative that picture has to fit. This Watson guy cropped the wide angle picture and blurred the faces. He's going to make it fit his narrative one way or the other.

Link to tweet

[Quixote1818]

9. I don't think that photo is of the actual rally in Chicago because the one in the news

is outside:

https://abc7chicago.com/politics/bernie-sanders-holds-campaign-rally-at-navy-pier/5165284/

Isn't Navy Pier outside?

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/bernie-sanders-recalls-chicago-days-he-brings-2020-presidential-campaign-navy-pier/

?w=763

But it's possible he talked in two different venues?

[Autumn]

12. It's not. I watched a bit of the video, one photo was from yesterday in Brooklyn

and the next was from another, then I closed it. The one in the OP is cropped and faces are deliberately blurred, Bernie's feed had the wide angle view. This Tom Watson should remove the word journalist from his so called bio on Twitter.


Here's some good pics.

Link to tweet

[Quixote1818]

13. I think you are right, it was Brooklin but this article has lots of shots from Navy Pier in Chicago

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-bernie-sanders-navy-pier-rally-20190225-story.html

[Autumn]

14. So does this one

Link to tweet

[Quixote1818]

15. Thanks! nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

28. That Watson dude is a real piece of work.

When I see the lies trump tells his followers I know he knows his fans are just that stupid. Trump has no respect for his audience.

What is it that makes that phony “journalist” post doctored and misleading pics on twitter? Hmm.

His bio says he’s a consultant. Pathetic.

[Quixote1818]

7. The video here has plenty of people of color and it doesn't look at all like the venue in the photo

in the OP. Was he at two places in Chicago?

https://abc7chicago.com/politics/bernie-sanders-holds-campaign-rally-at-navy-pier/5165284/

[mopinko]

10. not that i know of.

that video is from the kick off. navy pier is indoors.

[Autumn]

11. That photo in that video was from yesterday. There were plenty of POC in Chicago.

Link to tweet

[ucrdem]

21. Wasn't Saturday's rally in Washington Square Park?

This must be Chicago.

[Blue_true]

16. I saw maybe three POC.

This is what will defeat Bernie, he is making absolutely NO effort to connect deeply with the democratic party's real base, regardless of what his defenders here trot out.

[Quixote1818]

17. Maybe you should look above at the photos Autumn posted? nt

[TexasTowelie]

37. Did Tom Watson also crop the video?

I kept looking at the video of the people walking into the building and past the cordon ropes into the area in front of the stage. The area in front of the stage was about half-full and I wouldn't say that it was a diverse crowd. The crowd that walked right near the camera wasn't diverse either.

[Eric J in MN]

19. 'Bernie Sanders focuses on race in Chicago rally'

Sanders, who in February announced his second White House bid, spoke of his time in the Windy City as a young transfer student at the University of Chicago in the 1960s and his involvement in the civil rights, labor, and peace movements. In particular, he emphasized his work pushing for desegregated student housing on campus and an integrated public school system.

"The reason I tell you all of this is because my activities here in Chicago taught me a very important lesson that I have never forgotten," he said at Chicago's Navy Pier. "And that is that whether it is the struggle against corporate greed, against racism, sexism, homophobia, environmental devastation, or war and militarism — real change never takes place from the top on down."

He also invoked the names of African-Americans killed in police shootings as he talked about the need to "speak out against the disparity within the disparity."

Sanders' call to "end the institutional racism which permeates almost every aspect of our society" comes after he spent Sunday morning in Selma, Ala., commemorating the 54th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/bernie-sanders-focuses-on-race-in-chicago-rally

[Eric J in MN]

18. A video of the Bernie Sanders rally in Chicago

Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=928&v=Z5RAYGHVjqc

[CentralMass]

23. Thank you. Eric. The Bernie hatred here is palpable. The video clearly shows a diverse crowd.

[ucrdem]

20. There are nothing close to 13,000 people in that auditorium.

I'd guestimate 600, maybe 800. I do see young faces, but huge and diverse it isn't.

[dogman]

22. different angle

:large

[ucrdem]

24. Okay the room looks bigger, but it also looks like the audience is sitting on folding chairs

That spreads them out more than if they were standing. But I'll admit it could be close to 1,000 from that pic.

[Cha]

25. "13,000"? I thought that was

the number purported in Brooklyn?

ucr

[Eric J in MN]

26. There was similar turnout in Brooklyn and Chicago. NT

NT

[ucrdem]

27. heya Cha!

Yes, I was going on the statement above that the pic was actually from Brooklyn, but now I realize that it has to be from Chicago, as Brooklyn's rally on Saturday was in a park.

And though I didn't want to say anything negative yesterday, I've been to WS Park, and 13,000 struck me as wildly improbable. But that's just my impression!

[Cha]

31. It wasn't only your impression

that "13,000" was hyperbole.

[ALBliberal]

29. Nice crowd!!!

Good to see such enthusiasm this early in the primaries! Way to go dems!!!

[melman]

30. Posted on twitter by one trash account with 143 retweets

is not going viral. FAIL

[Yosemito]

32. Your definition of trash account

Someone who doesn't like Bernie.

[melman]

33. Nope

Watson is trash. I don't care if someone doesn't like Bernie as long as they're coming from an honest place. He is not.

[Cha]

36. Exactly.. and Tom Watson definitely

calls out BS. But, he doesn't come off as a hardass like this guy who needs to look in the damn mirror..

Link to tweet

[melman]

39. I think it's Tom Waston that needs to look in a mirror

Maybe if he does he'll realize how ridiculous it is to be tweeting about "that's a lot of white folks"


when he fucking looks like this.

[Cha]

41. His name is Tom Watson and I know what he

looks like.

Too bad you don't like him pointing out the obvious.

He's not the only one on twitter pointing it out.

[betsuni]

42. Oh, melman.

It's ridiculous for a white person to notice and point out that a crowd is mostly white? Why? I do it all the time -- yesterday when I saw a documentary about the rock band Queen, and almost every time I see an American baseball game on TV.

[melman]

43. Missed the point entirely

Ask me if I'm shocked.

[betsuni]

45. What's the point?

Maybe the confusion over "a lot" and "all"?

[airmid]

34. I keep watching all this trashing of potential nominees and I am not

going to do that to any of the nominees. Do I favor one or two? You bet. But I to refuse belittle and demean them as one of these people will be the Dem nominee and I will work hard for them in every way I possibly can. Any of them are fine with me because the alternative is four more yrs of the Fredo Crime Family and I don't think our country can survive that.

[Mr. Smith]

38. The Bernie bashing here is almost pathological.

The Bernie hatred just really energizes a certain crowd. You can count on them to show up in any Bernie-related thread, trash him as best they can, congratulate each other, for doing so, and then blithely complain about divisiveness. It's one of the most unfortunate and unhelpful aspects of this forum.

[Cha]

40. BS has done nothing but trash My

Democratic party. Too bad he's getting pushback.

If BS had never trashed the Dem party.. this wouldn't be happening.

[LongtimeAZDem]

47. +1

[mucifer]

46. So if the photo and tweet aren't true can the OP please take it down?

[brooklynite]

48. 783 "likes" is not viral...