ANN ARBOR Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, badly needing a win in Tuesday's Michigan primary to reboot his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, rallied in Ann Arbor Sunday with thousands of energized and cheering students at the University of Michigan.

Getting students to vote for him in outsize numbers — something Sanders has not been able to do in recent state primaries — is an essential ingredient to a Sanders victory in Michigan, analysts agree.

Those at U-M cheered wildly as Sanders set out a long list of promises that included universal Medicare, free university education, a minimum wage of at least $15 an hour and sweeping gun control legislation.

Sanders took the stage in front of a large open area in the central campus, known as the Diag, as an unseasonably warm afternoon morphed into a chilly evening. About 10,000 people filled the square, according to Heather Young, a spokeswoman for U-M's division of public safety and security.

"Michigan is the most important state coming up on Tuesday," and "we're going to win this election," Sanders said.

"We're taking on Wall Street. We're taking on the insurance companies. We're taking on the drug companies. We're taking on the fossil fuel industry. We're taking on the military-industrial complex. We're taking on the prison-industrial complex."

As Sanders listed his corporate targets, the crowd roared in approval with each one named.

Temi Yusuf, 18, a first-year education student at U-M from Houston, Texas, said one of the major reasons she supports Sanders is his push to allow people convicted of felonies to vote, once they are released from prison.

In Michigan, people convicted of felonies can already vote, once they have served their sentences, but that is not the case in about 20 states, including Texas.

"Once they come out, they shouldn't be stopped from being citizens," said Yusuf, who hopes to go into education and also likes what Sanders has said about wanting to increase pay for teachers.

Brian Roche, 22, a U-M senior studying political science, said he is backing Sanders because of his plans to expand Medicare to all and stop price gouging by pharmaceutical companies.

Despite former Vice President Joe Biden's perceived momentum after Super Tuesday, "I honestly don't think Biden has that big of an advantage," considering the states that have yet to hold their primaries, said Roche, who is from Chicago.

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Hannah Wolfson, 21, a U-M political science junior from Nashville, Tennessee, said she likes the fact Sanders would include mental health coverage with basic health care coverage.

She said she likes Sanders' chances because she believes he is much more mentally sharp than Biden. But she said she is concerned the Democratic National Committee might take actions to help Biden over Sanders because "they're favoring establishment politicians."

Sanders, at 78, is hugely popular among students. He brought with him to Michigan a Democratic star who, like him, embraces the label "democratic socialist," but at age 30 is much closer to the students' ages than she is to Sanders.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, who won an upset primary victory in 2018 over U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley, a member of Democratic House leadership, urged each student in attendance to bring five friends to the polls on Tuesday.

"In order for us to win, we have to grow," Ocasio-Cortez said. "We must be inclusive" and create "a people's movement" backing Medicare and a living wage for all, she said.

Just before Sanders spoke, students were given directions on how they could still register to vote on Monday or Tuesday, if they have not already.

Earlier Sunday, Sanders appeared in Grand Rapids with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the longtime civil rights activist who won the Michigan Democratic caucuses when running for president in 1988.

Back then, Sanders, as mayor of Burlington, Vermont, endorsed Jackson. On Sunday, Jackson endorsed Sanders, who polls show continues to trail Biden by double digits among black voters.

“I stand with Bernie Sanders today because he stood with me,” Jackson said. “I stand here because he never lost his taste for justice for the people. I stand with him because he stands with you.”

In Grand Rapids, Sanders told supporters that his presidency would target discrimination.

“Everything that Jesse Jackson said is what this campaign is about,” Sanders said. “We are going to do everything humanly possible to wipe out all forms of discrimination in this country. We are sick and tired of systemic racism in America.”

The weekend before the 2016 Michigan primary, polls had then-Democratic front-runner and eventual nominee Hillary Clinton up by 20 points or more on Sanders. Instead, Sanders scored a narrow upset victory.

This year Sanders had considerable momentum after Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, but is now fighting a Biden surge that began with his decisive victory in South Carolina and continued into Super Tuesday, when Biden won in 10 out of 14 states.

With all the other major candidates having left the race, Michigan has emerged as the first head-to-head match-up and as a crucial state for both candidates, with 125 delegates up for grabs.

Sanders had little to say about Biden Sunday.

At earlier campaign stops, he has blasted Biden for his support of trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he says have hurt manufacturing workers in Michigan. He has also criticized Biden for voting in favor of going to war in Iraq and supporting a bankruptcy bill in the early 2000s that made it harder for people to declare personal bankruptcy. And his ads have highlighted past Biden pledges to cut the cost of entitlements such as Social Security.

Sanders has also criticized Biden for comments from the 1970s questioning the Roe v. Wade decision that affirms a constitutional right to have an abortion. Biden has repeatedly said in the years since then that he supports abortion choice even if, as a Catholic, he struggles with it personally.

Arpan Lobo of the Holland Sentinel contributed to this report.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.