Approximately 13,000 people packed the DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center at Reid Park on Friday, according to the Sanders campaign. Receiving thunderous applause from the crowd, Bernie Sanders laid out his plan if he were to win the Presidency in 2016.
1. “A People’s Campaign, not a Billionaire’s Campaign”
Sanders made it abundantly clear that his campaign will be made up by the support of individuals, not super PACs.
Sanders highlighted the fact that he had gained over 650,000 individual contributions, with the average contribution being $30.
“Bernie is committed to the community by embracing everyone and is really invested in our generation,” said Kelly Schulz, a social work student at Pima Community College. Schulz is originally from Sanders’ home state of Vermont.
2. Gun Control
“We are tired of just prayers and condolences,” Sanders said as he discussed the issue of campus shootings.
Sanders said his prayers were with the victims of the two campus shootings at Northern Arizona University and Texas Southern University on Friday.
Sanders then pivoted to how he would address the issue of gun control by calling for stronger background checks, banning assault weapons and closing loopholes in the system.
3. Immigration
Sanders took 10-year-old Bobby de la Rosa to the stage to tell the story of how he had been affected by the immigration process.
When he was four years old, de la Rosa was separated from his mother when she was deported to Mexico. Sanders shared the emotional heartache that he and the rest of his family has had to endure ever since.
Sanders spoke to the crowd about undocumented immigrants.
“They are a part of the fabric of this country,” he said.
Sanders described how undocumented workers are being systematically exploited through low wages, creating a “race to the bottom.”
Sanders then said he supports legal protection for undocumented immigrants, a path to citizenship, and going further with both the DREAM Act and with President Obama’s DACA policy.
4. Unemployment
“We are turning our backs on an entire generation of young people,” Sanders said.
Sanders discussed the statistics of youth unemployment, stating that when taking into account discouraged and part-time workers, the nation’s real unemployment rate was closer to 10 percent than 5 percent.
Sanders, citing an economic study, said that for high school graduates aged 17-20, the unemployment rate was 33 percent among whites, 36 percent among Latinos and 51 percent among African Americans.
To end this, Sanders would create an economy that “works for all of us, not just millionaires and billionaires,” and support a massive federal jobs program to put people back to work, he said.
5. Voting and Campaign Finance
“No nominee of mine to the Supreme Court will get the nomination unless he or she is against the Citizens United decision,” Sanders promised.
Sanders also attacked the Koch brothers, who he said will spend around $900 million on the next election.
To help address the issue, Sanders said he supports the public funding of elections and wants to help increase voter turnouts across the country.
6. Education
“We are going to invest in education and not incarceration,” Sanders said.
While addressing the issue, Sanders said “we need to be hiring teachers, not firing teachers.”
Sanders also called for all public universities to be tuition-free in order to help solve the problems created by student loans and the increasing amounts of debt for students who choose to go to college.
Follow Sebastian Laguna on Twitter.
