Bloomington residents recently had the rare opportunity to see a presidential candidate live in their own town.  Democrat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders visited the Indiana University Auditorium April 27th for a rally and speech that was attended by many college students, adults, and South students.

Senior Barnabas Obeng-Gyasi was surprised to have been offered a seat on the stage with Sanders himself.

“We were pretty shocked.  From there on we just couldn’t do anything stupid on stage or the Secret Service would tackle us,” he said.

Obeng-Gyasi attended the rally to see what it was like to meet a politician.

“The experience itself was very interesting; I haven’t been to a political rally since Obama ‘08.  Being up there and being able to see the whole crowd in front of him, hearing his rhetoric, and his ability to get people behind him.  It was a very powerful and valuable experience to have,” he said.

Junior Sajnee Desai, who also attended the rally, has always been a big supporter of Sanders.

“I really like his views, and regardless of whether he’s going to win or not I’ve also always wanted to meet a major politician and hear them speak in person.  It was a really good experience because I’m going to be able to vote in the upcoming election, so I wanted to get a more hands-on approach to this,” she said.

Desai also positively recalled her experience at the rally even though she had to wait in line for two hours.

“Everyone had a very positive outlook on the future of American politics, and hearing everything he said in person was great.  I would attend another one of his rallies in a heartbeat,” she said.