Bernie Sanders' campaign warns that large crowds are 'cool' — but don't actually matter

Bernie Sanders at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 13 August 2015

Even Bernie Sanders' campaign wants people to chill about his large crowds. Despite drawing over 104,000 people to his events since July 1, The Washington Post — among others — has warned that Sanders' fans "don't mean much."

Pete D'Alessandro, Sanders' Iowa state director, agrees. While he acknowledged that Sanders' campaign puts emphasis on grassroots support, he pointed out to BuzzFeed News that big crowds don't necessarily mean big numbers in the polls:

So: The huge crowds in Portland fuel the huge online army which in turn bolsters the traditional campaign D'Alessandro is running in Iowa. Maybe. But in the end, he said, the size of the crowd doesn't matter."I know why you guys think it's cool when 2,500 people show up in Council Bluffs, Iowa," he said. "That's a story in itself. But all we care about is how many can we get to commit to caucus."Enviable online presence, jaw-droppingly huge crowds, millions of dollars raised without a billionaire donor. These are already Sanders success stories. But they're not victory."The only thing we're going to be judged on is how many people can you get to caucus," D'Alessandro said. [BuzzFeed]

Sanders himself agrees. "I will not deny to you that we've got a lot of work to do," he told BuzzFeed. "I think we're going to bring millions of people into [our] movement and that's how we're going to win this election."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.