'Weekend for Bernie' - Detroit bands rock out for Sanders ahead of Michigan primary

Record ID: 1462421

  • Title: 'Weekend for Bernie' - Detroit bands rock out for Sanders ahead of Michigan primary
  • Date: 6th March 2020
  • Summary: DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES (MARCH 5, 2020) (REUTERS) LIST OF BANDS TO PERFORM "WEEKEND FOR BERNIE" AT CONCERT UFO FACTORY AHEAD OF PROMOTING DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, BERNIE SANDERS, AHEAD OF MICHIGAN PRIMARY / CROWD "BERNIE" SIGN / PEOPLE SEATED AT BAR WOMAN AT BAR WEARING "BERNIE" SHIRT / BAR BARTENDER WEARING "BERNIE" T-SHIRT WITH IMAGE OF STATE OF MICHIGAN
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2020 09:14
  • Keywords: Bernie Sanders Democratic presidential candidate Michigan
  • Location: DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES
  • City: DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001C3WYDDZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Twentysomething voters - a key constituency supporting Bernie Sanders' White House run, rocked out to local bands in Detroit on Thursday (March 5), at an event organized to promote the Democrat presidential candidate ahead of next week's Michigan primary.
    The independent music venue, UFO Factory, filled to capacity through the course of the evening with more than 100 attendees present for the performance and fundraiser for the Sanders campaign. Admission cost $10 a head and the event, titled, "Weekend for Bernie," was presented as a warm-up for a newly scheduled rally with Sanders in Detroit set for Friday (March 6) evening.
    Indeed, several of the bands performing at UFO including Anna Burch will also participate in the Friday Sanders rally to be held at the TCF Center.
    Sanders has a history of being boosted by youth acts. Vampire Weekend supported him in Iowa and the Strokes supported him in New Hampshire during the earlier stages of the 2020 primary fight.
    But the left-wing senator's strong support among younger Americans was not enough to carry the day on Super Tuesday earlier this week. Sanders was strongest on Tuesday among young and Latino voters, according to exit poll data, and scored a major victory winning California, the state with the most delegates.
    But a far wider coalition fueled former Vice President Joe Biden's victories, with some of his biggest support coming from African Americans - a key Democratic voting bloc - and white voters over 60 - a group that regularly turns out in large numbers.
    And with Elizabeth Warren ending her presidential campaign on Thursday after concluding she had no realistic path to the Democratic nomination, the race is down to a two-man battle between Biden and Sanders.
    But while some are already even starting to write off Sanders, fans of the Vermont senator at the UFO Factory felt their state could revitalize his campaign.
    "I think he's in a still a pretty good position," Kristian Sheufelt, a 28-year old grad student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, told Reuters. "I think Michigan can put him in an even better position next week."
    Indeed, the Sanders faithful think their state is a natural fit given his support for "Medicare for All."
    "I believe in public health care," explained 28-year old Detroit bartender, Sam Quarles. "As a bartender, I don't have health insurance. I'm not offered it. It's a stressful job. You know, we need physical health care, mental health care. Not only that, police brutality is an issue that he's [Sanders] the only person that's really tackled this."
    Indeed, many at the party were recalling the last presidential primary cycle, when Sanders bested Hillary Clinton.
    The event organizer summed up the synchronicity.
    Bernie's "campaign works in Michigan because it's a working-class state," said the event organizer, Mark Sanford, who's 33.
    (Production by Dan Fastenberg and Hussein al Waaile)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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