Fuel To The Fire

Bernie Sanders attracted overflow crowd to UMass FAC on January 2nd

For those of you who were wondering if UMass, a public institution, gives special favors to hot trending presidential candidates I offer the following:

   Bernie Sanders Amherst rally cost

And there certainly is some wiggle room when it comes to "Public Safety Officer."  Although it might have been a stretch to say all those officers were routinely needed to ensure student safety when the event occurred during intersession.

About the only thing you worry about from a public safety standpoint with popular speakers coming to campus is the disruption factor.  Although at UMass it's a lot more noticeable with conservative speakers than those who lean left.

In this particular case the lone Trump supporter who was escorted from his seat close to the front of the stage at the Fine Arts Center did Bernie Sanders a favor.   

Trump supporter Mike Rooney

Media coverage, although the larger outlets did seem to focus on that particular snippet, was a lot more extensive than it normally would have been.

Perhaps the Sanders campaign should hire Mr. Rooney to show up at all Bernie's campaign stops from now on.

Click photo to enlarge

Line stretched from Fine Arts Center all the way down to the Newman Center

Bern Bernie Bern

Bernie Sanders spoke first to a crowd of 1,000 in front of the Fine Arts Center

And then spoke to a capacity crowd of 2,000 inside

Bernie Sanders, that lovable looking grandfather type we all wish we had, enthralled a crowd of 1,000 outside the UMass Fine Arts Center speaking for around 15 minutes prior to entering the concert hall (only 3 minutes late) which was filled to capacity with another 2,000 admirers.

And if he missed a single liberal talking point in his brief outdoor speech (gun control?) he probably made up for it with his longer remarks indoors.

 Huge line at 11:30 AM waiting to get in Fine Arts Center for 1:00 PM speech

$15/hour Minimum Wage, Single Payer Health Care, protecting both a woman's right to choose and gay marriage, fix the broken criminal justice system, expand paid family leave, tuition free higher education, and lowering interest rates on current student debt.  Whew!

And of course all of this will be financed by increasing taxes on the (predominantly Republican) "1%".

 UMPD estimated outside crowd at 1,000

Mr. Sanders also pointed out that Tom Brady is fine and all that, but maybe we New Englanders  should spend a bit more of our time "transforming America."

Bernie Sanders speaks to capacity crowd of 2,000 inside Fine Arts Center.  Photo by Michael Seward 

Max Hartshorne reports

Obviously not a Bernie supporter.  He was later ousted for heckling him inside the Fine Arts Center