Shortly after 2:30 p.m. Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders walked out on stage at IPFW’s Hilliard Gates Athletic Center to thunderous applause.

As the nation’s eyes turn to Indiana today for its presidential primary, the independent senator from Vermont arrived in Fort Wayne to deliver the message that has captured the adoration of many of the country’s young voters. Some of them drove for several hours across state lines to hear Sanders speak.

"This is a radical group. I like this group," Sanders said as the crowd roared. "Fort Wayne is ready for the political revolution."

Sanders did not disappoint his supporters. The thousands-strong crowd – the athletic center seats about 2,000 people – screamed and chanted as he, in his unmistakable style, launched into familiar rhetoric railing against the so-called 1 percent and Hillary Clinton’s fundraising, while also advocating for trade reform, immigration reform, free healthcare, paid family leave and free public college education.

"I want every kid in Indiana, every child in America to understand that if he or she takes their schoolwork seriously, does well, that kid will be able to get a college education," Sanders said.

Eddie Marcott, Jonathan Farris, Judi Farris, and Ashley Farris were a few of Sanders’ supporters who traveled a long way. The group rode together from Sheldon, Illinois, Kentland and Logansport to hear Sanders speak.

"I completely agree with what he stands for, what he wants to do for the American people," Marcott, who lives in Kentland west of Logansport near the Illinois border, said. "No other candidate that I’ve ever seen in my lifetime has stood up for us like that."

Sanders also touched on the state of manufacturing jobs in Indiana, mentioning Carrier and United Technologies as examples of the greed of the corporate class. In an interview before Monday’s rally, Sanders said he would change the country’s trade policies to keep manufacturing jobs from disappearing overseas.

"What we do is to transform our trade policy," Sanders said. "And we make it clear that we will have policies that says you can’t shut down in Indiana or Vermont or America, move abroad and bring your products back here tariff free, that’s all."

During the rally, Sanders said companies like Carrier need to "start treating their workers with respect" if they want to receive federal subsidies and tax breaks in the future.

With recent polling showing Sanders essentially neck-and-neck with Clinton for Indiana’s 83 delegates, a win in Indiana is "extremely important," Sanders said.

"We have just an enormous number of great volunteers. As we speak they’re out making phone calls, knocking on doors trying to make sure we have the largest voter turnout possible," Sanders said. "I think we stand an excellent chance to win here in Indiana."

Sanders said he believes his message of creating an economy that works for all citizens and keeps jobs in the country is what will spur him to a win today.

Indiana is hardly the end of the line for Sanders, who faces primary elections on Saturday in Guam, and next Tuesday in Nebraska. With the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July shaping up to be a contested one, the Sanders campaign is currently weighing what it wants to see included in the Democratic Party’s national platform.

Much of what Sanders said he’d like to see in the national platform mirrors his campaign speeches, with calls for free health care and education and lower student debt. However, Sanders said the platform should also include significant investments into the country’s infrastructure like bridges and water and sewer lines and provide Medicare for everyone.

While Sanders will wait until he sees what the Clinton camp comes up with for the national platform, he said his opponent has been weak on trade and hasn’t been clear about where she stands on Social Security.

dgong@jg.net