Students At MHS Attend Bernie Sanders’ Rally!

Story by: Hannah Liddiard

Students walked away from the Bernie Sanders rally feeling the Bern.  The students of Mr Reeser’s AP Government class attended Senator Bernie Sanders’ political rally that took place in Skyline High School’s gymnasium.

Mr Reeser took his class to this rally because he wanted his students to be educated on how much work truly comes into a Presidential campaign.“We don’t often have realistic Presidential candidates come and visit our part. I wanted them to see how a rally works. I wanted them to see Democracy in action.

The class met at 7:30 a.m. last Friday morning to load the bus which was buzzing with conversations either full of excitement or debate. Students wondered why Senator Sanders had even bothered stopping here, as Idaho is a majority conservative state.

The bus arrived around 8:15 a.m., right before the doors were opened. The line was already long, wrapping around the high school itself and into a nearby business’ parking lot. It took almost 2 hours before the class got through the doors.

The class seemed to be surprised at how many people had actually attended the rally.

“It was fun! I kind of didn’t expect that many people to show up. It was kind of crazy, people kept shoving us because we were near the front,” said Senior Itzel Rabelo.  

Senior Brigham Hansen has been supporting Senator Sanders for nearly 8 months now. He at first was shocked about the length of the line, though that faded quickly.

“…When I first heard, I wasn’t sure, because like, I know we are in a majority red state and counties, but when I got there, at first I was like, wow, there’s a lot of people, but after a while, not really, because I know why. There was a lot of people there who agree with a lot of his policies, even if they are a conservative, or an independent,” he said.

The rally itself was full of people who supported the Presidential candidate. The crowd cheered the Senator on as he spoke about his policies.

“(I agree most with) Free college tuition. I liked how he said, why should we be punished for trying to better our education?” Rabelo said.

Free college tuition was one of the many things Senator Sanders talked about. He also mentioned his policies on gun control, abortion, raising minimum wage and free health care.

“I agree with like, all of his policies. Mostly his view on free health care and minimum wage is a big one for me. Just, uh, equal rights, like with Women’s rights, gay marriage, things like that,” Hansen said.

Senior Jake Rammel, who identifies as a moderate conservative was a little shaken after the rally.

“It honestly kind of scared me, because he (Senator Sanders) is so far left from where I am,” Rammel said.

Overall, the AP Government class along with the other students who attended, enjoyed the rally.

“I think that, a lot of the people in my class, are pretty liberal, more than the rest of the students at Madison. I think that a lot of them were just glad to get out of school, but a lot of them are also interested in, like you can’t take an AP Government class and not be interested in the system. So I think a lot of them were glad to watch the system take place,” Hansen said.

The overall feeling of the students that attended this rally was that people need to be educated and determine their political views on their own.

“I think that (students of Madison High need to) just be completely involved and to know their different policies and ideology before going out and voting,” Rammel said.