The Omaha event also came as major-party presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump participated in a nationally televised NBC News forum on military issues.

Scoring national airtime has been a focus for Stein's campaign as well as that of Libertarian Gary Johnson, who will also appear on Nebraskans' ballots in the Nov. 8 general election.

Although at least 43 states will include Stein on their ballots, her poll numbers have hovered in the single digits, far below the 15 percent threshold needed to participate in the upcoming debates.

"We need to be in the debates," Stein said.

Poll numbers don't tell the complete story because they only survey likely voters, she said. Her campaign, meanwhile, relies on a “whole new movement of unlikely voters,” many of them mobilized by Sanders' bid for the Democratic nomination.

About half the crowd at Wednesday's event, maybe more, raised their hands when asked if they supported Sanders in Nebraska's Democratic caucus in March. Sanders won here but ultimately lost the nomination to Clinton at the party's national convention in July.