Tonight’s Donald Trump rally in Burlington Vermont (we will live stream at 6:30pm for event beginning 7:00pm) has all the makings of a doozy political event. Burlington Vermont is ground-zero for Democrat Bernie Sanders and both Trump supporters and Bernie’s political protesters have plans on attendance.

In essence Trump is quite popular and viewed very favorably by the general citizenry of Vermont. However, the professional political apparatus in/around government enterprise is quite hostile (openly so) toward the Trump campaign. Yes, Trump is walking in to Mordor to show his supporters what fearless campaigning looks like in person….

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Hours before Donald J. Trump was set to hold a rally in the Flynn Center here, a crowd of supporters, hecklers and curious observers braved freezing temperatures to get a glimpse of the Republican presidential candidate who dared to set foot on the traditionally liberal turf of Senator Bernie Sanders.

Wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and hoodies, dozens of people — some of whom had arrived as early as 4:30 a.m. — snaked around the block along Burlington’s Main Street in the hope of getting one of the theater’s 1,400 seats. The Trump campaign distributed more than 20,000 tickets to the event, sending the theater’s administrators and the local police department into a frenzy on how to handle the huge overflow.

Those bundled up outside just wanted to see the billionaire businessman in the flesh. Surprisingly, some were fans of both Mr. Trump and Mr. Sanders, the Vermont senator seeking the Democratic nomination, and were trying to decide which one to back.

“I think he’s smart, and he has the best chance of winning support and maybe flipping the state,” Daniel Nadeau, 22, of St. Albans, Vt., said of Mr. Trump. “Bernie is my No. 1 choice, and Trump is No. 2. They’re not that different.”

Voters who were on the fence between the seemingly polar-opposite candidates said that both communicated well with working-class people and made strong cases for how they would boost the economy, despite their differing policy ideas. (read more)