Ahead of the South Carolina Democratic Primary that took place this past Saturday, this past week was full of political happenings with each candidate attempting to bring out more voters and rally their supporters. These events include everything from the CNN presidential town hall on Monday night and the Democratic Debate held on Tuesday night, to the rallies of both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders on Wednesday. 

In particular, one highly anticipated event that occurred was the North Charleston rally of Bernie Sanders. I was fortunately able to attend. At the time, the Vermont senator seemed to be the Democratic frontrunner especially after his victories in the first three primaries and caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. Held midday at the North Charleston Convention Center, the rally consisted of a crowd of around eleven hundred people. Despite a diverse set of speakers, the crowd was made up of predominantly white supporters. Ohio state senator, Nina Turner, then ended the opening remarks after a passionate speech in support of the Vermont senator. As the audience chanted for him, Sanders walked up to the podium and quickly calmed the crowd’s enthusiastic applause to speak on the following policies:

As expected, Sanders shared his adamant stance on healthcare for all. Refuting the arguments citing his plans as radical, the Vermont senator asserted its feasibility to his supporters. In his defense, he noted the disparities between the current military spending in comparison to education and healthcare. He recognized the nation as being one of the wealthiest on the global scale, claiming that the money that would be utilized for his healthcare bill is already present in our current economy. 

Sanders spoke of his support of pro-choice policies, emphasizing how all women should be able to make their own choices for their bodies regarding abortion. In addition, he firmly stated that he would never appoint someone to Congress that had ever opposed or voted against the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. 

Speaking on a widely popular issue, he mentioned how he was in complete support of the federal legalization and decriminalization of marijuana. Furthermore, he expressed his intent to wield his executive power in order to expunge the records of anyone arrested for the selling of marijuana once put in office.      

On a related subject, Sanders spoke on the criminal justice system, specifically referencing the current state of prisons. He highlighted the unjust prejudices and racial discrimination leading to biased convictions of people of color that predominantly occupy prisons. He then turned his attention to the related issue of immigration, speaking of his support for DACA and a more efficient path to citizenship.

Appealing to younger generations, Bernie Sanders also spoke of his belief in climate change, affirming his support of the Green New Deal. He continued on to speak about  his plans on forging alliances with other countries to further battle climate change once elected. 

Sanders also shared his ideas on education and his intentions on improving the school system.        He spoke of the known importance of education between the ages of zero to four years old while emphasizing the lesser addressed issue of education beyond K-12. In other words, he plans to make college more affordable for the people and accessible to families of all incomes. 

The Vermont senator also went on to speak of gun control, referencing Charleston’s own tragic past with gun violence, specifically the tragedy at the Mother Emanuel AME Church back in 2015. He highlighted his stance on the matter, saying that he believes in a federal ban on all assault weapons, as well as in standard background checks and in defeating the gun show loophole. 

By the time Sanders left the podium, his supporters were spiritedly chanting his name, leaving with a revived sense of enthusiasm for his campaign. Outside the auditorium, many were planning on continuing to show their support for his campaign by canvassing several areas in the state later that day. Days later, we see that these efforts successful to an extent as Bernie Sanders won second place in the South Carolina Democratic Primary, losing to Joe Biden by about 29% in the polls.