Bernie Sanders holds rally at Franklin Music Hall

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WRITTEN BY: Jesse Dimich-Louvet

“Midterms are not sexy.” 

These were the words of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders during a rally supporting Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in Philadelphia on Nov. 6, just two days before election day.

Despite the Senator’s words, these midterms in Pennsylvania were more attractive than usual. This election was about more than nasty politics or policies but was a choice of two stark visions of America. 

For the last few months, Pennsylvania has been at the heart of the political universe. Following the four-day slugfest in 2020, in which Joe Biden won Pennsylvania and ultimately the presidency, pundits from around the country once again placed critical importance on the Commonwealth in the midterms on Tuesday. 

There was a different kind of energy emanating inside Franklin Music Hall, on the latest stop of the “Our Future is Now Tour” presented by NextGen America, featuring Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The crowd boomed with college students and millennials sporting the iconic “Feel the Bern” shirts from his run in 2016.

Pop references played a key role throughout the evening with messages from Billie Eilish to kick off the evening before a speech from Jabari Banks, the childhood actor from Bel Air. A thirty-minute concert by Tinashe, the Kentucky pop artist, ensued. Although she brought the energy, it left some with the impression of attending a concert with a sparsing of a few political speeches rather than the other way around. 

“It all just felt rather performative,” Rendon Kraske, a student at Temple University said. Though others were enthralled by the evening. “I just think he [Sanders] is the best speaker out there,” Matt Fabrizio, a junior at Temple University said. 

Unlike the previous day at Temple featuring a slew of Democrats including Biden and former president Barack Obama, this event had a high focus on minimum wage, labor rights and health care. “Healthcare should be a human right.” Sanders said, citing that Americans spend twice as much on healthcare per person than any other nation. Catchy slogans like “Vote fight win” and “our future now” dominated the backdrop. 

Sanders also spoke about the need for more educated individuals, highlighting the significance of making college tuition-free, to which the crowd greeted with applause. The Vermont senator urged his base to have “the guts to stand up to corporate greed.” Sanders was fully aware of the temperature of the political climate in the United States. 

“Americans have a right to be angry, but who do you take that anger out on?” Sanders asked, with someone yelling from the crowd, “the billionaires.” 

Sanders joked about his poor math skills in college but said he still understood that “99% is a lot more than 1%.” 

Speakers sprinkled in throughout the evening, each delivering their own urgent matters. A member of the Philadelphia City Council and the Working Families Party, Kendra Brooks, urged voters to “not keep quiet” echoing the progressive message of this sickening view of profits over people. She promoted a type of government that works for the many, not for the few, by building a nation through immigration and as a result a more just America. Brooks, like those before her, echoed the message: “when we show up and vote, we win.” 

Sanders acknowledged that he has earned the extremism title over his presidential runs presenting a more socialist agenda than most American politicians. Though he retorted back to his loyalist fan base that it was the Republicans who are extremists. “Extremism is the rich getting richer and 600,000 Americans being homeless, that is extremism,” he said. Americans may have broken from the MAGA movement in 2020, but Trumpism continues to persist in this deeply polarized country.

There is no denying this young progressive movement brewing in Philadelphia that seems ready to deliver and send a powerful message to the rest of the country. Sanders made it clear to his supporters Sunday night: “The future of this country rests on what happens here in Pennsylvania.” 

“Don’t give up, we have fought too hard,” said Sanders, emphasizing that the work doesn’t end after election day.