Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders are gathering at the University of South Alabama for a campaign meetup that will let attendees hear the senator’s platform through a live webcast rather than an in-person appearance.
The event, scheduled for the USA student ballroom, is capped at 525 attendees and is one of several similar meetups planned across the southern United States in the coming months, including a stop in New Orleans. Organizers say the format allows the Vermont senator’s campaign to reach college towns and mid-sized cities without the logistics of an in-person tour stop.
Sanders, the longest-serving independent in congressional history, has built his campaign around themes likely to resonate with a college audience, including a proposal for tuition-free public universities. His plan would fund the initiative through a small tax on stock trades, an idea he has framed as part of a broader effort to address income inequality.
Local organizers say the event is designed to be welcoming to families, with a designated area set aside for children so parents can participate in campaign discussions. The meetup format, increasingly common in modern presidential campaigns, allows local volunteers to host watch parties and discussions even when the candidate cannot travel to every city personally.
Mobile’s meetup reflects a broader pattern of grassroots organizing that has characterized Sanders’ campaign, which has relied heavily on small-dollar donations and volunteer-driven events rather than large-scale rallies in its early stages. The University of South Alabama’s central role in hosting the event underscores the campus’s function as a gathering point for political activity in the Mobile area, regardless of party affiliation.
Attendees interested in joining the Mobile meetup can register online through the campaign’s official website, where the USA location is listed among dozens of similar events nationwide. Organizers say interest in the local event has been strong enough that they expect the attendance cap to be reached ahead of the scheduled date.
Whether the event translates into lasting local support for Sanders’ campaign remains to be seen, but organizers say the turnout itself reflects growing political engagement among younger voters in the Mobile area heading into the 2016 election cycle.