Staff Writer
Bernie Sanders and rival Hillary Clinton fought for New York City’s vote on Wednesday night, April 13.
Sanders held a rally in Washington Square Park where he talked about the inspiration he drew from trade unions, gay rights activists, and other subjects who aim to change the status quo. His speech was laced with mentions of “corporate greed and the rigged economy” which was an indirect reference to the big banks. He said he plans to raise taxes on Wall Street.
Sanders also made comments about his opposing candidate Hillary Clinton.
“It is about creating government that works for all of us, not just the wealthy campaign contributors,” he said. “This campaign is sending a message to corporate America: You cannot have it all.”
The Sanders campaign announced that about 27,000 people attended the NYC rally, a very striking number compared to Barack Obama’s turnout of 20,000 in the same park in 2007. This may be partly due to social media, where announcement of the rally went viral and drew people to fly to New York for this event.
There were New York University students and workers pressed against windows to watch Bernie and his supporters on the chilly night. People waited for hours in a line that stretched several blocks to get into the park.
Sanders included that “it's going to be a tough primary” for his campaign and for his supporters because independents could not vote in New York’s closed primary, however he was still hopeful that young people would come out to the polls.
“If we have a larger voter turnout on Tuesday, we’re going to win this thing.”
Although voter turnout was large, Clinton won the primary contest with 58% of the vote.
