Sen. Bernie Sanders to Ann Arbor crowd: Don't repeat 2014 low turnout

Kathleen Gray | Detroit Free Press

With 18 days before the Nov. 6 general election, Michigan Democrats are trying to make sure their momentum remains high so that a predicted blue wave actually reaches the shore.

So they brought in the big gun Friday night — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who has a proven ability to rally more liberal voters, especially young people, to make it to the polls.

At a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer, Sanders told a roaring crowd of more than 1,000 at Rackham Auditorium that the 2018 election was a crucial moment in the country's history. He said the last midterm election in 2014 was a travesty for America.

"We had the lowest voter turnout since World War II. All of 36 percent turned out and all over the country, voter turnout was abysmal," he said. "Four years ago, working people in large numbers did not vote. People of color did not vote. Young people in large numbers did not vote and the Republicans won sweeping victories all across the country.

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"Our job in the next 18 days is to turn that entire scenario upside down," Sanders added. "No more complaining, no more depression, now is the time to stand up, fight back and vote."

Whitmer told the "Go Blue" crowd in Ann Arbor to take four hours off on Saturday to watch the big football game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

"Then get back to work," she said. "In a political environment where it’s easy to feel demoralized and angry with we see on the TV news every day, we have an opportunity in 18 days to show the type of leadership we deserve."

Sanders attracted thousands to rallies across Michigan before the 2016 presidential primary and narrowly won Michigan's presidential primary in 2016 before losing the nomination to Hillary Clinton.

He thanked the crowd for their support in 2016 and some in the crowd chanted 2020 in an effort to get him to run for president again. But the Friday night rally was about 2018, not the next presidential election. Sanders warned the crowd about the future if Republicans continue to have majorities in Congress.

"In Donald Trump, we have a president who is a pathological liar, who told the American people one thing and he did the exact opposite," he said. "Please understand if they control the House and the Senate, after giving a trillion-dollar tax break to the highest 1 percent, they’re going to come back and cut Medicare and Medicaid."

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, who's not up for re-election until 2020, said this election is especially important to send a message, especially since the path to Donald Trump's victory in the presidential race in 2016 ran through Michigan, winning by a mere 10,704 votes.

"Sen. Bernie Sanders is in the house. We know he loves Michigan, but he also knows the entire country is watching us. Particularly after what happened before (in 2016)," he said. "And we’re gong to show them that Michigan is a blue state."

Many of the Democratic candidates hoping to win on Nov. 6 also appeared and spoke at the rally, including: Whitmer's running mate Garlin Gilchrist, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, Dana Nessel and Jocelyn Benson, the candidates for attorney general and secretary of state, and Sam Bagenstos and Megan Cavanagh, the candidates nominated by Democrats for the state Supreme Court and Jordan Acker and Paul Brown, the Democratic candidates of University of Michigan's Board of Regents.

Dingell was particularly fired up at the rally, telling the crowd that it was time to take America back to a place where all people are respected, telling the crowd that instead of wearing U-M garb on the night before the big game, she chose a different ensemble.

"I'm wearing the dress that I wore when I walked with my colleagues to the Senate side to support Dr. Ford," she said. ""I'm a woman and I respect every man, but I've got more stories than anyone and I’m tired that if they speak up, that women get blamed, shamed and labeled as a troublemaker."

And Nessel, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, who got repeated standing ovations from the crowd, said her road to the office is steep, especially since Republicans are spending $5.5 million in negative advertising against her.

"Apparently, the Republicans are scared of me, a lot ... They’ve labeled me Dangerous Dana. I think that's kind of bad ass, right," she said. "I’ll be dangerous to the Trump administration ... to bigots, to homophobes."

Sanders backed Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the race for governor before the Aug. 7 primary and appeared at a rally for El-Sayed's campaign the weekend before that election. But the former Detroit health department director finished second of three candidates in the race, behind Whitmer and in front of retired Ann Arbor businessman Shri Thanedar.

A small group of protesters from Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group, showed up to the rally with their "Whitmer's Moving Company" trailer to remind voters of what they termed the "Lost Decade" when Jennifer Granholm was governor and Whitmer was serving in the Legislature.

"She was pushing Jennifer Granholm's failed policies and it was a horrible decade. And now she's going to associate herself with a socialist," said Pete Lund, director of AFP-Michigan, referring to Sanders.

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Contact Kathleen Gray: kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal