John R. Roby

jroby@pressconnects.com | @PSBJRoby

Sen. Bernie Sanders opened a pre-primary swing through Upstate New York on Monday by promising cheering supporters of his presidential bid that the Empire State is very much in play.

Speaking at a town hall before 5,000 assembled in the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in downtown Binghamton, the Vermont senator and Democratic presidential hopeful was seeking to parlay recent wins into further gains in delegate-rich New York.

“When we began 11 months ago, we were 70 points behind [Democratic front-runner] Hillary Clinton,” Sanders said. “Now we’re winning national polls. If we have a large voter turnout a week from tomorrow, we’re going to win in New York.”

The Vermont senator spent much of last week holding events in New York City before launching his upstate swing Monday. He stressed that much of his platform — a living wage, pay equity for women, infrastructure improvements — crosses any upstate/downstate divide, but singled out trade policy reforms as a way to help revitalize former manufacturing centers upstate.

“What has gone on now for decades is large multinational corporations have shut down here in the United States, moved to low-wage countries abroad and then brought their products back into this country,” he said. “We have lost millions of decent-paying jobs as a result of disastrous trade policies.”

Sanders grew animated early on while discussing his heritage as the son of Polish immigrants to Brooklyn. His father spoke no English and had “not a nickel in his pocket,” but his parents worked to make sure their children did better.

“You all know what the American Dream is about, and I’m a product of that,” he said. “I will be damned if we’re going to see the American Dream die.”

Sanders sounded many familiar campaign themes in his hourlong address, including wealth and income inequality, and the need to reform campaign financing. At several points, he spoke directly to the young people who made up a large part of the audience.

“I say this to the young people here: Unless we turn around our economy there is a strong possibility that your generation will have a lower standard of living than your parents,” he said.

Sanders also spoke at length on environmental issues, including climate change and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which New York banned statewide last year.

“I want to applaud you for standing up to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and demanding that New York ban fracking,” he said. “What may have been unrealistic just a few years ago has been achieved because you made it happen. That is how real change always occurs, when people stand up and fight back.”

In an interview before the town hall, Sanders took his criticism of fracking further, calling access to clean water “a major, looming crisis” in the United States and the world.

“We cannot sacrifice clean water for the gains of the fossil fuel industry,” he said. “So I believe we should move toward a ban on fracking,” even in places, like Pennsylvania, where it is currently allowed.

Fracking was one area in which Sanders took pains to distinguish his policy stances from those of Clinton — trade policy was another. Clinton supported natural gas as secretary of state, and has recently said she believes fracking should take place where states sanction and regulate it.

“Secretary Clinton’s state department worked to export fracking and to reward companies for doing it,” Sanders said. “If we are serious about addressing the crisis of climate change, we need bold action and bold leadership.”

Sanders’ appearance in Binghamton, followed by rallies later Monday in Buffalo and Albany, comes a week before New York's April 19 presidential primary. The state's contests are drawing attention and personal appearances from major candidates of both parties, as neither front-runner has yet secured the delegates required to sew up the nomination.

Clinton campaigned in Syracuse and Rochester last week, while Republicans John Kasich spoke in Greece on Saturday, front-runner Donald Trump appeared in Rochester on Sunday. The latter are also speaking in Albany on Monday. Sen. Ted Cruz plans New York events this week as well.

Two recent statewide polls show Clinton, who lives in Westchester County and served as a U.S. senator from 2001 to 2008, with a 12-point lead over Sanders. That margin, though, is much tighter than a similar poll conducted earlier in March had found. Sanders has won seven of the past eight Democratic caucuses and primaries, going back to March 22.

New York is the second-largest prize remaining on the Democratic nominating calendar, with 291 delegates up for grabs, behind only California's 548. For Republicans, the state offers 95 delegates.

Sanders trails Hillary Clinton by about 700 delegates, 1,756 to 1,068, according to USA Today's delegate tracker. That includes Democratic Party "superdelegates" who, while unpledged until the convention, have publicly announced the candidate they back. A total of 2,383 delegates would secure the party's nomination.

Follow John R. Roby on Twitter @PSBJRoby.

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