NEW PALTZ – Well over a thousand screaming supporters filled Hasbrouck Park in downtown New Paltz on Friday to hear former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speak at a campaign rally for congressional hopeful Zephyr Teachout.
Two liberal Democrats …
… and a very supportive mostly younger crowd
Sanders’ appearance is meant to help Democrats win the contested New York 19th District, currently held by retiring Republican Chris Gibson. Teachout’s GOP opponent this year is former assemblyman John Faso.
Early birds began camping out the night before, to secure a spot close to the stage, according to organizer Dan Torres, the deputy town supervisor.
“There was already an Occupy-esque village that had formed,” Torres said.
Sanders warned voters against what he called Teachout’s wealthy opponents.
“The great crisis, of all that we face, is that in many respects, our country today is marching toward oligarchy,” Sanders said. “What we are looking at is a nation where a handful of billionaire families not only control our economy, but also they want to buy the US Government.”
Teachout agreed.
“We are at a crisis moment in our democracy and our economy,” she said. “It’s a once in a generation crisis, one might say it’s a once in a hundred years crisis.”
She vowed to take polluters to task if elected.
“We’re not going to let these anchorages go into the Hudson River; we’re not going to let fracked gas into our state, and we’re not going to let the polluters get away without paying their fair share,” she said.
Bringing manufacturing back home and ending disastrous trade deals, helping family farms, and undoing the impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision on campaign financing are other issues she touched on.
