“I like his message that he can’t do this himself,” said Bill Ramsey, also 23. “Every other candidate says they’re going to take it all on themselves.

“It’s not about free stuff,” said Ramsey. “It’s about trying to end inequality.”

One stereotype did hold up. Wednesday’s crowd appeared to be overwhelmingly young, including children riding on the shoulders of their parents.

An official count of 6,740 with another 2,000 outside in a line that wrapped around the BOK Center more or less jibed with unofficial estimates. That’s fewer than last month’s Donald Trump rally at the Mabee Center, but still a more than credible turnout on 48 hours notice.

On sheer ear-splitting volume, Wednesday’s crowd won hands-down. No doubt at least some of that is attributable to the room’s acoustics, but not in recent or even not-so-recent memory have so many people in Tulsa given such an enthusiastic welcome to a politician so far left of center.

The self-described democratic socialist said Wal-Mart’s Walton family is “the major recipient of welfare in America” because of the government subsidies Wal-Mart employees reportedly receive.