“He will never allow the Keystone pipeline to be built!” Heinert said of Sanders, drawing raucous applause from his like-minded multitudes.

Instead of pausing to let the applause fade, Heinert rolled on, and a revival-like atmosphere spread over the crowd as he shouted to be heard over their growing roar.

“He will protect the Missouri … the Big Sioux … the James ... the Cheyenne ... the White … every single river that means so much to us!” Heinert called out. “Bernie Sanders will protect that for our way of life and for all of our children out there.”

That rapidly shouted list of rivers, and the audience’s eager response, was reminiscent of the infamous speech that then-candidate Howard Dean — a Vermonter like Sanders — delivered during the 2004 Democratic presidential campaign, when Dean yelled out a list of states he intended to win while supporters cheered wildly. But unlike Dean, who brought his speech and his candidacy crashing down with a delirious-sounding guttural scream that has been relentlessly mocked ever since, Heinert transitioned smoothly into a testimonial about Sanders’ character and then brought the candidate onto the stage.