NORTH CHARLESTON – The first people in line for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign rally Wednesday morning at the North Charleston Coliseum weren’t exactly fans, unlike most of the crowd. Jeannine Cardinale said she is a registered Democrat who last voted for Barack Obama, and she said she sees very little she finds attractive about the Democrats running this year.

She and her husband, Rob Cardinale, who arrived on site for Sanders' 11:30 a.m. event before 9:30 a.m., said they came for different reasons — Rob mostly out of curiosity and Jeannine because she was drawn after recalling positive memories of an Obama rally in 2008.

Right behind them in line was a group of seven Goose Creek High School students who were skipping school — with the blessing of their parents and their Advanced Placement government teacher, they promised. All of them will be age 18 by the general election in November, and they said they plan to cast their first votes, ever, on Saturday.

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Two said they are firmly Sanders voters. One is deciding between Sanders and Warren. The others are undecided.

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A rally with President Donald Trump, the person Democrats are working to unseat, is scheduled to follow in the same arena complex in North Charleston on Friday.

A line for Sanders' rally began to form about three hours beforehand, allowing enough time for the Goose Creek students to meet at school before carpooling to the coliseum.

The Trump line had already begun to form by then, with Trump-rally regulars Richard Snowden and Jon Munafo in line days ahead of the event.

During two Sanders rallies in coastal cities, Sanders spoke about climate change, telling the crowd they already knew about the risk of environmental damage with flooding and hurricanes. He spoke about gun violence in the state and talked about the state's education system, which he said could be improved with his plan to raise teacher salaries to at least $60,000 a year.

And Sanders talked electoral strategy. He said he would need the largest turnout in presidential election history to win, and he said he wanted a similarly record-setting turnout Saturday in the state primary.

Following the North Charleston rally, Sanders flew to another rally in Myrtle Beach on Wednesday afternoon with a crowd count from the venue manager at 2,857, significantly larger than the one in North Charleston.

Sanders plans to attend a rally in Spartanburg at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Wofford College's Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. That event was moved to accommodate a larger-than-originally-expected crowd, too, according to his campaign.

In Myrtle Beach Wednesday, at the convention center, another set of high school students, this time from nearby Socastee High, came to their first political rally to show opposition to the president and support of LGBTQ issues. The trio — 17-year-olds Olivia Land and Morgan Heleine and 18-year-old Storm Milan — were surprised when they showed up early and were pulled on stage, some of the dozens of people behind Sanders when he spoke.

Land said she comes from a working class family and it can be tough for her family to make ends meet.

"I'm coming out of respect for my mother, respect for the working class," she said.

Sanders should help their future as young people, with issues like the environment, she said, and she was thrilled to see the crowd was far older than she'd expected. Land said it could be a good sign of broad support.

Connie Wilson, 60, attended the Charleston rally and went wild when Sanders talked about health care.

"That's me," she said.

Wilson said she had a brain aneurysm about five years ago and has not been able to get Medicare or private insurance. She said she lost her home and her job in 2008 and has struggled to recover ever since.

"(Trump's) not helping me at all, not a damn bit," Wilson said. "Bernie will. He'll help me so I can help myself."

Vietnam War veteran Harvey Bennett said he is a Sanders supporter but wants people to know that Sanders can't do anything he promises by himself.

"He can't do it," said Bennett, echoing a Sanders theme. "Change comes from the bottom up."

Getting millions of new people active in voting will be the only way to get Sanders elected and his platform delivered, Bennett said.

To do that, the Sanders campaign is pushing volunteers to knock on doors, make phone calls and drive people to the polls.

Dozens of campaign volunteers have come down from other states — Illinois, Ohio, New York among them — to help drive a big turnout.

Sanders said during his rallies that he has come from way behind in South Carolina polls and has a shot at a second-place finish. Clemson University released its Palmetto Poll on Wednesday to show Sanders in third place, far behind former Vice President Joe Biden in first. Tom Steyer was second in the poll.

Sanders lost big to Hillary Clinton in South Carolina's 2016 primary.

Several Sanders supporters who attended the Wednesday rallies and other campaign events said they have been with him since 2016 and are seeing a different and more positive reaction this year.

Martese Chism of Chicago said she canvassed in South Carolina for Sanders four years ago and doors kept being slammed on her. This year, those doors are open, Chism said.

Chism and several other Sanders supporters were not happy with Tuesday night's debate. In response to comments from other candidates, occasional boos broke out at a Sanders debate watch party where more than 100 supporters gathered.

The debate was too chaotic, with too many voices talking over each other, said Doug Friedman, a political scientist and Charleston resident who supports Sanders.

Friedman said he's drawn to Sanders' progressive ideals, and he said he was happy to lend his support.

“I’ve been waiting for someone like him, and he’s been waiting for me,” Friedman said.