Gordon Friedman

Statesman Journal

Thousands came out Tuesday night to support Bernie Sanders at a rally in Salem.

The independent U.S. senator from Vermont brought his presidential campaign to Oregon for the fourth time, marking a final push to reach voters before the state's May 17 primary election.

In an interview with the Statesman Journal, Sanders said he’s the first to admit he faces “an uphill battle” to the nomination. But he believes he can win.

He's fighting for critical victories as media outlets are predicting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will soon win Democrat's nomination. (Sanders said again Tuesday that he will not to drop out of the race.)

Yet the naysaying seems forgotten with the timbre of the Sanders movement.

On Monday he drew an estimated 15,000 attendees to a rally in Sacramento. Supporters packed the Moda Center arena in Portland when Sanders visited in March.

The high intensity continued on to the Salem Armory Auditorium, filled to the nosebleed seats with supporters and more supporters outside clamoring to glimpse the candidate through the back doors.

Tuesday's speech was another dose of Sanders rhetoric.

The animated, 74-year-old Sanders cast shadows on the influence of corporations in politics and pervasive income inequality.

He said he would bring jobs through federal infrastructure projects. Society would improve by enacting universal health care and tuition-free public college.

People are “sick and tired” of working harder for less money, he said.

Preaching to the choir at Sanders rally

He went on: Fight wage inequities. Rethink the war on drugs. Promote alternative energy. Protect the environment from climate change. Reform prisons. Expand Social Security.

The crowd reacted with raucous cheers when Sanders said he can defeat likely Republican nominee Donald Trump.

He said Trump will not be president because Americans know “our strength is in our diversity.”

In the interview, Sanders said winning the Oregon primary is “imperative” for his campaign because it has a large number of delegates compared with remaining states.

A win here could lend his campaign momentum heading into the valuable California primary.

Backstage, Sanders said he believes that he has a "very, very good chance" at winning the remaining states — and winning well enough to claim a majority of pledged delegates.

Despite his optimism, Sanders is behind in the delegate count compared to Hillary Clinton.

She is at the doorstep of the nomination, leading Sanders by nearly 300 pledged delegates and about 500 superdelegates — party insiders who choose any candidate they like.

Yet Sanders is carrying the momentum of wins in West Virginia on Tuesday and a recent upset in Indiana.

“We are going to fight for every last vote in Oregon, Kentucky, California, the Dakotas,” he told the crowd in Salem.

Sanders said if he wins a majority of pledged delegates, he'll talk superdelegates into ditching Clinton for him. To that endeavor, he said polls showing him defeating Trump work in his favor.

The Senator has also flirted with the notion of accepting a vice presidential nod. He told CNN's Wolf Blitzer last week that he would talk with Clinton after the convention if he does not win the presidential nomination.

Backstage Tuesday he said it is too early to discuss the issue.

“Right now,” he said, “we are focused on winning here in Oregon.”

Send questions, comments or news tips togfriedman2@statesmanjournal.comor 503-399-6653. Follow on Twitter@GordonRFriedman.