On Friday, Bernie Sanders paid another visit to Council Bluffs for a rally, bringing with him fellow socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC). The crowd of young, white, and rainbow-haired leftists seemed to be more eager to see her than the man running for President. Three musical acts preceded the politics — a lady playing a ukulele (while singing about “my body my choice”), “Democratic Socialist Songsmith” Neal Francis and his funky band from Chicago (who were surprisingly good), and an eccentric banjo player named Adrian.
A few local politicians spoke before bringing out AOC, who seemed to be able to work the crowd up to a frenzy as she alternated between sitting and walking about the stage to introduce Sen. Sanders. The two politicians are half a century apart in age, but that gave them an interesting chemistry as they took turns exulting the values of socialism to a very friendly crowd. There were apparently over 2,000 people in attendance, but I managed to get a spot at the front to shake hands with both Bernie and AOC when they wrapped up and walked the rope line. I even asked them both if they would appear on the Ben Shapiro program. (Neither of them responded with much enthusiasm.)
