ELECTIONS

Sanders returns to Phoenix after visiting the border

Rebekah L. Sanders
The Republic | azcentral.com
Bernie Sanders supporters Bryan Hurtado, (from left) Elizabeth Ferrendelli and Victoria Anaya, all of Glendale cheer for Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during his rally at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix on Saturday, March 19, 2016.

Liberal firebrand Bernie Sanders continued his whirlwind tour of Arizona on Saturday as he tries to overtake rival Hillary Clinton ahead of the state's presidential primary.

The independent U.S. senator from Vermont, running for president as a Democrat, drew a boisterous crowd of about 3,300, according to campaign estimates, to the state fairgrounds in Phoenix.

"Bernie Sanders — rah rah rah — we don’t need no Super PAC," the crowd chanted before he took the stage, riffing on one of Sanders' main talking points.

Sanders boasts of 2 million small donors propelling his campaign, comparing it to Clinton's many wealthy donors and her well-funded political action committee.

"When you’re not dependent on big-money interests you can do what is right for working people," he told the crowd. "I don't have to worry about some billionaire or Wall Street guy calling me up — because we don't have their money, we don't need their money, we don’t want their money."

What little public polling has been done on the race has shown Clinton with a comfortable lead. Sanders said the only way he'll beat Clinton on Tuesday is with a groundswell of support.

"On Tuesday, there is going to be a very, very important primary here in Arizona," he said. "The political reality is if there is a large voter turnout, we will win. If there is a low voter turnout, we will lose. So please on Tuesday make sure that you, your friends and your family come out."

Sanders' consistency on liberal issues over decades attracted Phoenix rally-goer Brenden Parks, 23, of Surprise.

The Honeywell warehouse employee said he sees a brighter future for his 3-year-old son under a Sanders presidency given the candidate's promises of single-payer health care and free college.

"I understand there's going to be a tax increase on the middle class," Parks said, "but the benefits will outweigh it."

Still, if Clinton is the nominee, Parks said he would have no problem supporting her: "It is still a step in the right direction."

That attitude was not shared by Michael Mora, 30, of Phoenix. The independent changed his registration to Democrat so he could vote in the state's closed presidential-preference election — a necessary step that could prevent many such voters from being able to support Sanders or other candidates.

Mora said he trusts Clinton "zero percent," forming a zero with his hand. Clinton has changed positions too many times over the years, he said.

Economic issues are the deciding factor for him.

"People are saying (Sanders) is trying to give away free stuff. That's not what he's trying to do," Mora said. "... He's trying to make everything as fair for everybody as possible."

Catherine Schuyler, a 67-year-old Sanders campaign volunteer wearing an American flag T-shirt, said she thinks the candidate would win the presidency if he made it to the general election.

"I think he will trash Trump," she said. "He's got the honesty and the integrity that Trump lacks."

Sanders spent Saturday morning touring the U.S.-Mexican border, near Nogales, receiving cheers from people on the other side of the fence who identified themselves as deported U.S. military veterans.

Sanders promised to expand programs created by President Barack Obama that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation and allow them to work legally. He was accompanied by U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, the Tucson liberal.

Sanders' campaign circuit in Arizona began a week ago, when his wife, Jane Sanders, met with tribal leaders seeking to block a mining project on land they consider sacred, called Oak Flat.

She also confronted Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio about his hardline immigration policies, as she visited his infamous outdoor jail, Tent City. Clinton supporters criticized the encounter as playing into the sheriff's media ploys.

Sanders arrived Tuesday to pump up a crowd of more than 7,000 at the Phoenix Convention Center. After taking a break with family in Sedona, he rallied nearly 3,000 on the Navajo Reservation Thursday before heading to Tucson on Friday to speak to another roughly 7,000.

Clinton's campaign has been holding events nearly daily in Arizona for several weeks with surrogates, from celebrities to politicians to activists such as gun-violence survivors. A television ad is airing featuring former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords touting Clinton's gun-control plan.

Former President Bill Clinton will make appearances on his wife's behalf Sunday. And on Monday, a day before the primary election, Hillary Clinton will hold a meeting with tribal leaders and a rally in the afternoon at Carl Hayden High School.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.