Dan Nowicki

The Republic | azcentral.com

Bernie Sanders on Sunday rallied Democrats in battleground Arizona to turn out Tuesday on behalf of Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump, claiming that the very future of the planet depends on it.

"We've got some serious business to talk about today," Sanders told nearly 1,000 enthusiastic supporters inside Central High School's gym in Phoenix.

"What we have to talk about is that in two days, there will be the most consequential election in the modern history of the United States," he said. "And my hope is that all of you will do everything possible in the next two days — not only voting, bringing out your friends and your relatives and your co-workers — to make sure that Donald Trump is not elected president and Hillary Clinton is."

The crowd at various points chanted "Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!"

Sanders hammered Republican presidential nominee Trump on issue after issue, painting him as a dangerous choice for America on issues such as climate change and protecting the environment. "Without overstating it, the future of the planet depends" on voters making the correct decision, Sanders said.

Sanders, the gruff, left-leaning independent U.S. senator from Vermont, rocked the political world this year by giving Clinton an unexpectedly fierce fight for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. During the Democratic primaries, his progressive message resonated with Millennial voters and other liberals.

Thanks to his new national stature, Sanders is expected to return with increased clout to Capitol Hill and keep pressure on a President Hillary Clinton, if she's elected, from the left.

However, since Clinton clinched the nomination, Sanders has been one of her most tireless surrogates. His visit Sunday to Arizona was part of a whirlwind, 12-state, coast-to-coast swing ahead of Election Day.

Laying out a progressive agenda

In Phoenix, Sanders passionately laid out the progressive agenda. He noted its opposition to racism, sexism and discrimination against gays and immigrants, and support for comprehensive immigration reform, a $15-an-hour minimum wage, equal pay for women and unionism, and contrasted it with Trump's platform.

There is no question, he said, that Clinton would be a better president for working people than Trump.

While praising the nation's diversity, Sanders bluntly portrayed Trump as a racist and bigot.

"I find it incomprehensible that today in the year 2016, after all of those struggles (for civil rights and equality and against injustice), we have a Republican candidate for president whose cornerstone of his campaign is based on bigotry," Sanders said. "Unacceptable!"

If Hillary Clinton wins Arizona, has the state turned blue?

Sanders also reminded the audience that Trump was once a leader of "the so-called birther movement," a debunked conspiracy theory that claimed President Barack Obama was not a natural-born citizen of the United States and thus was constitutionally ineligible to serve as president.

The birther movement, Sanders said, "was a racist effort to undermine the legitimacy of the first African-American president in our history.."

"This is a candidate who referred to our Mexican brothers and sisters as criminals and rapists," Sanders said of Trump. "This is a candidate for president who wants to deny access to this country to people of one of the largest religions in the world, the Muslim community."

"This is a candidate who continuously insults women and is proud of his assaults on women," he said. "This is a candidate who makes fun of people with disabilities."

The job of the next president, Sanders said, "is to bring us together, not divide us up."

Bringing the crowd to its feet

Sanders brought the audience to its feet by mentioning the effort to defeat on Tuesday Republican Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a hugely unpopular figure in the Latino community because of his hard-line immigration positions and whose office was found to have racially profiled members of the community.

"Not only must we defeat Mr. Trump, but basta Arpaio as well," Sanders said to cheers. "We need criminal-justice reform all over this country. It may as well start with Mr. Arpaio."

Arizona, usually a predictable red state in presidential elections, has become a battleground this year between Clinton and Trump.

The past 30 days has seen rallies with Clinton and her running mate, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Trump and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

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The state has also seen numerous surrogates for the nominees such as first lady Michelle Obama; Clinton's daughter, Chelsea Clinton; former GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson; and Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr.

Sanders has made several appearances in Arizona this year, both as a candidate and on behalf of Clinton.

Former President Bill Clinton, the nominee's husband, campaigned for her in the same Central High School venue ahead of Arizona's March 22 Democratic presidential-preference election. In 1996, Bill Clinton became the last Democrat to carry Arizona and remains the only presidential nominee from the party to do so since President Harry Truman in 1948.

Seeing opportunity in Arizona

Thanks in part to Trump's unconventional GOP candidacy — and his penchant for offending key constituencies in the state — Democrats see opportunity this year in Arizona.

However, the most recent polls suggest that Trump may have reasserted a modest lead in Arizona.

That shift has come since the disclosure late last month by FBI Director James Comey that his agency needed to review additional emails that could be pertinent to the FBI's previously closed investigation into Clinton's handling of sensitive information and use of a private email server while U.S. secretary of State.

Comey on Sunday said the review did not alter the FBI's earlier determination that criminal charges against Clinton were not warranted.

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Turnout is crucial for both sides, which explains why the Clinton campaign is continuing to send surrogates such as Sanders to the state to energize supporters just two days before the election.

"It is no secret that Arizona is one of the battleground states in this election," Sanders said. "It is also no secret that the polling here is very close and that what will likely happen on Election Night is that Mr. Trump or Secretary Clinton will win by one or two percentage points. Our job — your job — is to make sure that on Election Night," Clinton wins.

"The way I see it is Hillary will win if the voter turnout is high. She will lose if the voter turnout is low," Sanders said. "Let's make sure that Arizona has the highest voter turnout in its history."

Arizona voters 'aren't buying it'

In a statement released Sunday by Trump's campaign, U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., pushed back on the idea that Clinton will carry the state.

“Bernie Sanders is spending the final hours of this campaign trying to manufacture enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton, but Arizonans aren't buying it," Franks said. "Voters here have heard Donald Trump’s message, and are ready for change. On Tuesday, we will vote to Make America Great by delivering Donald Trump to the White House.”

Other Democratic speakers at Sanders' Phoenix stop also hammered home Sanders' point about turning out the vote.

State Rep. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, appealed to members of the audience to help motivate others to vote by going door to door and sharing their personal stories.

"You can make their vote matter for you, for them, on a local level," Mendez said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to turn Arizona blue!" added Adrian Fontes, the Democratic candidate for Maricopa County recorder who also spoke at the event.

But Fontes also said the high-school gym had better "clear out like a fire" after the event with volunteers working to get out the vote.

Before the speakers, the audience was entertained by the group Mariachi Pasion, who got a warm reception for their spirited renditions of songs such as "Guantanamera."