If you’ve watched or attended a Bernie Sanders rally lately, his stump appearance Saturday at the University of Colorado may have sounded familiar.

Before an estimated crowd of 9,000, standing on a stage on an outdoor running track that was backdropped by the sun-soaked Flatirons, the longtime Independent senator from Vermont-turned-Democratic presidential hopeful delivered his wildly popular manifesto to an audience that loved every word of it.

He said like to pass comprehensive immigration reform with policies that are “humane, sensible and keep families together.” He spoke of the country’s “grotesque” income inequality. He reminded his fans that his campaign is fueled not by a Super PAC or his private wealth, but rather by hundreds of thousands of individual donations that average about $30.

When he said that a bank “too big to fail” is also “too big to exist,” some in the crowd seemed to mouth the punchline along with him, like concertgoers giddy at the chance to hear a favorite song in person, at last.

The die-hard support Sanders has inspired across the country is a reflection of the sort of race the 74-year-old wants to run.

“This is a people’s campaign,” Sanders said with his Brooklyn accent, while slightly hunched over the podium. “You, brothers and sisters, are part of a political revolution.”

And the many that began lining up five hours before Sanders’ speech, decked out in pins and stickers, couldn’t wait to give him a hero’s welcome and pledge allegiance to that revolution. Throughout the queue, which wound thousands deep within about 90 minutes, many die-hards spoke of their hopes for a candidate whose potential — to some — is literally boundless.

“I want to be able to look back on this day and say ‘Hey, I was front seat for Bernie,'” said Jennifer Deschner, 18. “You’re so close to this presence, so close to this magnificent human being that has a chance to change everything about our lives.”

Sanders couches nearly every big idea he has — from free public universities, to a federal program designed to create millions of new jobs, to a foreign policy that hinges on the U.S. abstaining from all possible conflict — with the admission that no president wields enough power to do it on his or her own. He steadfastly avoids hyperbole, and adds “in my view” to most every opinion he shares.

Is Sanders more than a dark horse?

The frenzy at CU on Saturday, and at hundreds of engagements in other states over the past few months, is inching Sanders supporters closer to the belief that he is more than a dark horse who’ll invariably run into the Hillary Clinton, big-money ceiling.

“Obama, he really changed the game in terms of connecting to the grassroots,” said Michel Johnson, 29, of Boulder. “So, coming after the historic election of the first African-American president in the country, it’s like, where do we go from here? Will we take that as an opportunity to re-evaluate where we are as a country or will we take the path that got us where we are today?”

The perceived inability of Sanders to connect on a grand scale with non-white voters has often been called into question, but, to the extent that a crowd in Boulder — a town highly comparable, culturally and demographically, with Sanders’ home of Burlington, Vt. — can be considered diverse, Saturday’s was.

It was a rare coming-together of students and working or retired folks, of (mostly) white and (some) black and Hispanic folks, and LGBTQ-minded signs and t-shirts peppered the crowd.

Denver’s Bruce Floyd, 21, was one of the first people to line up this morning, but he said he doesn’t blame minority voters naturally distrusting of politicians — even those like Sanders, who espouse the kinds of beliefs on income and education inequalities that, theoretically, would appeal to minority groups.

“Being born to a black dad and Hispanic mom, there’s been this sort of disconnect, that Bernie is just another old white man,” Floyd said. “It’s sometimes hard for people to connect with someone who might not understand their plight. Their perception is hard to overcome.”

‘It feels a bit like we’re seeing the Beatles’

But, as Sanders reiterated on Saturday, he’s equally distrusting of those politicians. The career Independent said his campaign is about “taking on the establishment at every level of society.”

That includes the gun lobby, which he discussed at greater length than usual, perhaps in a nod to one of the uglier sides of Colorado’s reputation.

“The attacks in Columbine and Aurora have put your state on the map nationally in a way I know you did not want,” said Sanders, who favors strict background checks and a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons — or, as he calls them, “guns which have no other purpose than to kill people.”

With every talking point, the supporters went crazy.

“It feels a bit like we’re seeing the Beatles,” said Rex Vanderweghe, 61, of Sterling.

But Sanders hardly managed a smile during the speech. He did almost zero ad-libbing, and cracked all of zero jokes. Saturday’s visit was pure business.

“Think big, and not small,” he implored. “We are the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and when we stand together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.”

Sanders’ arrival marks the first chapter in what is likely to be a busy presidential campaign season in Boulder and the rest of Colorado, the state being seen once again as a likely swing state that could help tip the 2016 election results.

The Democratic contender is appearing at CU little more than two weeks before the next Republican presidential debate, slated for the Coors Events Center the night of Oct. 28.

Before then, however, voters will get a look at Sanders vs. Clinton (vs. three also-rans) in a CNN debate Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Alex Burness: 303-473-1389, burnessa@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/alex_burness