Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders gathered at more than 3,000 house parties on Wednesday to listen to a simulcast from the Vermont socialist senator. Daily Beast reporter Lizzie Crocker attended one of the parties at a Bushwick loft in Brooklyn, where she found the hipster Bernie-maniacs to be surprisingly earnest and cynicism free.
On the Daily Beast podcast, Crocker talks with Daily Beast editors John Avlon and Noah Shachtman about the passionate (and occasionally stoned) Sanders supporters she met.
Crocker said the party reminded her of the early stages of the Obama campaign.
“There’s so much hope in all these young voters who’ve never even voted in an election before. They’re so idealistic.”
Despite the die-hard enthusiasm of Sanders supporters, Avlon wasn’t optimistic about the senators chances, although he thought Sanders would win at least one of the primaries.
“I just have to say, if the phrase ‘Commander-in-Chief Bernie Sanders’ doesn’t make you laugh, you’re not high enough,” Avlon said.
The Daily Beast podcast is excerpted from Daily Beast Radio on Sirius XM Insight 121, which airs Saturdays at 9 a.m. and Sundays at 5 a.m. and noon. Sirius subscribers can listen to the entire show online. You can subscribe to the Daily Beast Podcast in the iTunes store. The theme music is by the Breuss Arrizabalaga Quintet.