A nearly standing-room-only crowd filled Sheboygan’s Emil Mazey Hall on Thursday morning, well in advance of the main event – an appearance by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. The Senator was making his local stop as part of a tour of six cities in Wisconsin, identified as a pivotal state in the upcoming Presidential Election. But the passion for the views held by the longest-ever-serving Independent member of Congress went beyond party lines, much to the approval of those in attendance.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was Welcomed to Sheboygan’s Emil Mazey Hall on Thursday Morning, and was Given a Warm Reception and Several Standing Ovations by a Large Audience. Photo by Kevin Zimmermann
The Senator received loud applause when touching on the abortion issue, saying “that women, not government, have the right to control their own bodies,” and adding that “we cannot go backwards” by electing Donald Trump in November. Sanders also warned against the loss of progress made in addressing the threat of climate change should Trump again gain the presidency, saying that “anybody who tells you that climate change is a hoax is utterly wrong…they are threatening the well-being of our kids and future generations for all time.”
Sanders seemed to hit all the right points for the audience, largely a blue-collar gathering of faithful Democrats, blaming an increasingly-corrupt political system that has enabled billionaires to buy an election, railing against pharmaceutical companies and lobbyists for Americans paying the highest global prices for medicine, and praising Canada’s nationalized healthcare system that charges more for the parking fees at the hospital than for the hospital stay itself.
After his address, which was largely off-the-cuff, Sanders took questions from the audience, which ranged from Supreme Court bias to shortages of skilled workers and affordable housing…which he praised as “great questions!” In the end, Sanders said that the example set by organized labor can be applied to politics as well, ensuring that the people’s will, and not corporate greed, drives policy in Washington. He admitted repeatedly that such change takes time, and that corruption occurs in both parties. But he urged the crowd not to give up, but to keep the fight going. And the plain message from Sanders was that in order to do that, Democrats must first win in November.
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