“This is no time for anybody to be talking about being depressed or in despair,” he said. “Now is the time to get to work, now is the time to transform this country, now is the time to win this election.”

Sanders, who took over 57% of the Dane County vote in the state's 2016 presidential primary, was playing to a supportive crowd.

“I think that he’s shown the most compassion toward communities than any candidate I’ve come across,” said Mushka Yurkew, a 56-year-old artist.

“I see him as a stand-out that’s not like the norm of everyone else in D.C.” said Orion Kiesch, a 42-year-old videographer.

While some maintain that at 77, Sanders' age will work against him, Kiesch and his companion Lindsey Erickson, a 35-year-old dental assistant, brushed aside those concerns.

“I have patients who are in better health in their 70s than people in their 50s,” said Erickson. “Age is nothing. Age doesn’t really matter.”

Others were still deciding which Democratic candidate they would support.

“I think the big concern for the next election cycle is making sure that there is a candidate that can reach across and made sure that we take back the White House,” said Andrew Johnson, a 35-year-old self-employed worker. “And that we don’t have somebody who’s too far to the left and in the general election falls flat.”

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