STEVENS POINT – About 650 people withstood a consistent rain to listen to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders as he aimed to inspire working-class voters ahead of the fall election season.
Thursday evening’s debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump was fresh on attendees’ minds. Several expressed to a Stevens Point Journal reporter a desire to hear a different message from the senator from Vermont than what the two presidential candidates offered the night before.
“I’m so tired of people being disrespectful to each other and not focusing on actual priorities that need to be addressed,” Kelly VanLaanen, who is 48 and lives in Plover, said. “There’s a lack of professionalism in politics right now and it’s super disappointing.”
Many in the crowd wore T-shirts or accessories with Sanders’ name or campaign logos on them and several looked like they had been well worn for several years.
“I’ve been a big fan of Bernie since he first ran for president,” said Travis Laprise, 32, of Stevens Point. “It was the one and only time I really got activated and actually excited for politics. (He’s) one of the only guys in this whole gamut (of politics) I actually enjoy as a person and I like hearing what he has to say.”
Sanders spoke for about 40 minutes to an umbrella-wielding crowd, touching on topics like rising costs of essentials like health care, food and housing, the power wealthy interests have over U.S. politics and grassroots democracy.
“Unless we change this broken and corrupt campaign finance system, which allows big money interests to buy and sell politicians, we’re never going to be able to bring about the changes that working people need in this country,” Sanders said in his speech.
Morgan Benton, 24, from Plover, said Bernie’s labor- and working class-oriented messages resonate with people in central Wisconsin.
“What motivates me to care about politics is the commitment to community and improving the social programs that help bring us together,” Benton said. He pointed to the Levitt Amp concerts − a concert series that occurs weekly through the summer months on the same stage from which Sanders spoke − as a valuable community activity that brings people together. He said he appreciates Sanders as a rare politician who will come to a small stage and hear from people directly.
“Not only at the local level but at the state level and the federal level, there is a declining confidence in government in general. I think the reason for that is that a lot of working people are hurt,” Sanders said to a Stevens Point Journal reporter. “People are worried about the cost of housing, they’re worried about inflation, they’re worried about child care, they’re worried about health care, they’re upset about the wars taking place in Gaza and in Ukraine and people are saying, ‘I’m hurting, is anyone responding to my needs?’ They’re looking at government and government is not doing it.”
Laprise said this sort of caring language from Sanders is part of what led to his primary victory in Wisconsin in 2016 over Hillary Clinton.
“I think, Wisconsinites, we can tell that he’s genuine,” Laprise said. “We take everyone at face value, right. And at face value, he tells everyone, ‘I care about you.’ And I think that’s enough.”
Sanders was interviewed as part of the Cap Times Idea Fest in Madison in September 2023 and journalist John Nichols asked Sanders about optimism in his campaigns. Sanders said its hard not to be inspired by seeing young people wanting “to create a nation based on humane values, based on economic, social, racial justice.”
Jordan Garski, 25, of Stevens Point, said he describes himself as a “realistic optimist.”
“I believe that if we all band together and work hard that eventually everything is going to be OK,” Garski said. “We’ve just gotta keep standing together and know that we are a community and we just gotta do what’s best for everyone and try to keep our head on our shoulders.”
Other attendees, like Mike Marcucci, 68, of Montello, and co-chair of the Marquette County Democratic Party, wanted to hear more discussion about the debate and less of Sanders’ regular campaign rhetoric.
“(The debate) was a debacle and distressing. Joe Biden didn’t seem very healthy at all, didn’t seem very engaged,” Marcucci said. “He’s been very effective as a president but Joe Average would look at that and say, ‘I just don’t think he’s ready for another four years.’”
“Failure in this thing is not an option, so now we have all kinds of work to do,” Marcucci concluded.
Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA-TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him at epfantz@gannett.com.
