NEWS

Bernie Sanders wraps up CSU rally

Nick Coltrain
nickcoltrain@coloradoan.com
Bernie Sanders speaks at a get-out-the-vote rally at CSU on Monday, October 17, 2016.

Hundreds of people — many of them Colorado State University students — packed the Lory Student Center's Grand Ballroom on Monday to hear U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders deliver a roughly 40-minute speech in support of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Sanders' speech, filled with themes touching on income disparity and inequality, came amid circumstances vastly different from the senator's last visit to Fort Collins.

Instead of making the case for his insurgent bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, the independent from Vermont touted Clinton, his former rival, as his choice in the impending presidential election.

Sanders saw overwhelming support in Larimer County during the Democratic caucuses in March, beating Clinton by about 67 percent to 33 percent. He won the by about 60 percent to 40 percent.

On Monday, he joined a recent wave of surrogates to visit Colorado and the Fort Collins area as the state's ballots began being mailed to voters. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who rallied in Loveland at the start of the month, plans stops in Grand Junction and Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

RealClearPolitics.com's polling aggregates have Clinton up 9 percentage points over Trump in Colorado.

Here are highlights from Sanders' speech. Those wishing to read the chronology of the speech can start from the bottom of the time-stamped segments and work back up to this point.

2:50 p.m.: Sanders: "Politics and political engagement does not end on Election Day. We need you on the day after the election." Sanders says the involvement of millions of young people is needed to demand Congress stand up and represent everybody, not just special interests.

Wrapping up points from his speech, Sanders gains sustained applause on his support of the Clinton-Kaine ticket. "Nothing I am talking about is Utopian -- it is all doable," but it requires an effort of the masses.

2:47 p.m.: Sanders on immigration: "The time is long overdue for this country to move to comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship." Sanders says real change never comes easy or without struggle. Says nation has a lot to be proud of for efforts to be less discriminatory, but has fallen behind in efforts to ensure that all people have a reasonable standard of living.

2:45 p.m.: Sanders on crime and punishment, Sanders says "our criminal justice system is broken. It needs major reform." Sanders says he and Clinton believe it makes more sense to invest on education than incarceration.

On police-involved shootings of African-American males: "If an officer breaks the law, that officer must be held accountable." Sanders says more training is needed "so lethal force should be the last response, not the first response."

2:40 p.m.: Sanders calls himself "perhaps the most progressive member of Congress" as a segue into speaking about climate change. Says "there is no longer a debate. Climate change is real" and is causing problems around the world. Sanders calls for a transition away from a reliance of fossil fuels or the situation "will get much, much worse." Says international conflict will increase as people fight over resources such as water or land on which to grow food.

2:35 p.m.: Sanders on Republicans in Congress: "What they forget is the state of the economy after eight years of George W. Bush." Goes on to tout current job creation against job losses under Bush, says "we have come a long way" toward reducing the country's deficit.

2:30 p.m.: Sanders on higher education: "How does it happen in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world" that bright students do not go to college because their families lack the income. After coming together with Clinton following the primaries, "we will make public universities and colleges tuition free for families making less than $125,000 per year — that's 80 percent of the population."

On student debt, "If you can refinance your home at 4 percent, buy a car at 1 or 2 percent, why in God's name are you paying student loan debt at 9 percent?"

"We have to allow people to refinance student debt at the lowest interest rates they can find."

2:28 p.m.: Sanders on pay equity for women: "Hillary Clinton is a strong supporter of pay equity for women. Donald Trump is not."

2:27 p.m.: Sanders calls the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour a "starvation wage" and says Clinton will raise the minimum wage.

2:25 p.m.: Big jeers from crowd as Sanders speaks about reports on Trump's nonpayment of income tax. Sanders says multinational companies, billionaires "must pay their fair share."

2:23 p.m.: Sanders, railing on income inequality, says the number of billionaires in America has increased tenfold in the last decade. There has been "a massive redistribution of wealth" in the nation's economy, which must "work for all of us, not just the billionaires club."

2:20 p.m.: Sanders, again on Citizens United: "I believe we need to move toward public funding of elections." To Trump supporters: "Most of you understand that the system is rigged in favor of the wealthy and the powerful. Think about voting for Hillary Clinton on this issue alone."

2:17 p.m..: Sanders on Citizens United, campaign finance: A small group of billionaires has decided "Owning our economy is not good enough. I want to own the United States government." Sanders says Hillary Clinton has pledged to overturn Citizens United within her first 100 days as president. Warns big-money influence in U.S. elections "is not democracy. That is oligarchy."

2:12 p.m..: Sanders gets chuckles from the crowd by saying, "My wife would kill me" if I disparaged women in the way Donald Trump has. Attacks Trump as a member of the "birther" movement against President Barack Obama. Says Hillary Clinton, Trump "will be just fine" if they lose the election, which should be more about the middle class.

2:08 p.m.: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has taken the podium at Monday's rally at Colorado State University.

Northern Colorado state legislators Rep. Jeni Arndt and Sen John Kefalas speak before U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' planned rally Monday at Colorado State University's Lory Student Center in Fort Collins