By Mitch McAndrew and Rebecca Morin
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An hour before Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took the stage in the Field House, a how-to caucus video played for the nearly 3,700 attendees.
And when Sanders finally took the stage, his message was clear: You support me, so go caucus.
“I think you should be involved in that decision-making process, not some billionaire in Washington,” Sanders said at the rally.
Sanders, who spoke for approximately 40 minutes — shorter than most of his speeches, which usually run an hour to hour and a half — hammered the issue that many political pundits, supporters, and even staffers have concerns about. He urged students to find their caucus sites and to continue with his political revolution.
The independent senator brought in big-name indie bands Vampire Weekend and Foster the People, as well as activist and philosopher Cornel West. He spoke about legalizing marijuana and stopping climate change, as well as campaign finance, which was met with a resonating “boo.”
“He’ll win in Iowa because of the youth vote, and that could happen nationwide as well,” said University of Northern Iowa student Nick Fisher.
Fisher — who will caucus for the first time today — said for Sanders to win, youth will have to show up.
The Mechanicsville, Iowa, native said the choice between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sanders is “realist vs. idealist.”
In the latest poll, Sanders came in behind Clinton at 42 percent; Clinton was at 45 percent.
With 602 Democratic likely caucus attendees surveyed, there is a margin of error of plus or minus 4 points.
To lock in the youth vote, Sanders and many other candidates have used big-name celebrity appearances to stir up hype and draw large crowds.
Katie Senn, the cello player for the Awful Purdies, an Iowa City group that opened the event, said this approach is all for a very specific purpose: to sway the young vote.
“This is a target concert for a very specific audience; [Vampire Weekend and Foster the People] are very popular with a lot of students,” she said.
Despite Sanders’ push to have his supporters caucus, there were several attendees who did not know who they would support come caucus night — let alone know if they will show up to caucus.
Adam Dellos, a UI sophomore studying business, came for the entertainment. He was unsure if he would support Sanders on caucus night but said he liked the senator’s “tenacity.”
“I’m mostly here for Vampire Weekend,” he said.