Ivanka vs AOC, The Strokes vs The Deplorables: What Trump and Sanders rallies tell us about 2020 race for White House
The President and the Democratic frontrunner hosted rallies on the same night, The Independent visited both
On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, Donald Trump threw one of his “love fests” in Manchester, drawing supporters from all around the northeast to the centre of focus for 2020 Democrats. So, Bernie Sanders and all his friends got together and had themselves a good old fashioned rock show.
It was a night full of political star power, on both sides of the ideological divide. The 45th president of the United States brought along his family to the rally, including his daughter Ivanka and son Don Jr, who was met with chants of “46” when beckoned on stage, an apparent reference to a desire among the “deplorables” – a term embraced heartily now by Trump supporters – for a family political dynasty.
But if the president brought out the deplorables, Sanders brought along some misfits of his own.
They were the kinds of supporters and surrogates who have shaken the Democratic Party establishment to its core. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat who unseated a deeply entrenched party leader in her 2018 primary, was there and was met with deafening roars from the nearly full stadium – and she drew that excitement into a crescendo as she worked towards introducing the man who polls show may well win the Tuesday primary by nearly double digits.
When Sanders introduced The Strokes to the stage for their set, the largely youthful crowd was free to rush the stage. They moshed. They crowd surfed. A beach ball came soaring through the air. At some point, folks picked the metal barriers up from in front of the stage and those crowd surfed, too.
“Oh it smells like weed in here,” one Sanders supporter said as she made her way deeper into the crowd inside the Whittemore Center Arena.
Just hours before the first voters headed to the polls far to the north in Dixville Notch, the two men were making a mark and sending a message to a state that plays an outsized role in determining who wins party nominations and has a chance in the general election and, therefore, to become president of the United States.
And in both cases, the rallies were a political show of force, underscoring the remarkable success both politicians have had in bending a reluctant political party to their will. While the president now has a vice grip on the party he heads up, it is hard to overlook the 2016 election, when his candidacy was laughed at by many in the Republican Party – up until New Hampshire, that is, when Trump won the first state contest out of many that would ultimately propel him to the presidency.
“I love president Trump. Support him. Love him. I love his energy, I love what he’s done for our country. He’s proud of our country, he’s got everybody proud of the country, truly,” said Debbie Harook, who drove into Manchester from Massachusetts for what she said was her first Trump rally.
Wearing a bright red MAGA hat, she continued: “I love it here. I’m so excited. It feels like energy, can you not feel the energy coming through these floors, it’s wonderful. And everybody in here ... supports the president the way I support our president.”
Of course, Ms Harook wasn’t alone wearing a Trump cap at the SNHU arena, where just days earlier virtually every 2020 Democrat made their pitch to voters at a massive fundraising dinner for the state party. An efficient booth selling all ranges of memorabilia was set up, with one man who said he was purchasing his third hat, “just because”.
“It is so energetic. It’s crazy, man. I’m, like, trippin’, I’m sending pictures back to work and stuff. I’ve got my little scarf going on, I’ve got my Trump hat. You know what I mean?” said Jema Massenburg, a nurse practitioner from Massachusetts. It was also her first Trump rally, she said.
In 2016, New Hampshire was good to Sanders, too. But, four years later, the state could prove even more momentous, after he won the popular vote in the Iowa caucuses just a week ago, and could give him the kind of momentum that political pundits love to talk about ad nauseam.
“It’s crazy. It’ s exciting. I’m so glad such a huge crowd came out, so many young people. We’ve been in line for so long and it just feels so good that all these people want change just like I do,” said Fartun Muhammad, a 26-year-old tech worker from Portland, Maine, said. She’s been supporting Sanders since the last election, she said.
For all the similarities of the rallies, though, the differences could form a canyon. When asked, the president’s supporters wasted no time in saying they have no love for Sanders, who they called a socialist (note: Sanders also calls himself that). And, Sanders supporters wanted nothing to do with the kind of negativity they associate with the president.
“This is the real deal, we’ve never had this, it’s very exciting,” said Jonathan Cross, an arts educator and voter who drove up from Manchester to see Sanders. “It’s awesome right now. I can’t wait until it continues to fill up.”
He continued: “This is the antithesis of what’s going on over in Manchester, the Trump Nazi rally. This is the anti-rally. It’s people and music and positivity and a message of change. I hope people are able to see this and get inspired by it across the country.”
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