海角大神

The Bronx is Bernin鈥�.

Or so say many of the homemade signs here on a cool evening at Saint Mary's Park in the South Bronx on Thursday, as an estimated 15,000 people thronged to hear the presidential candidate with the oft-punned name.

Noah Biron, a 19-year-old waiter at a country club in Connecticut came of age politically via the unexpected inspiration from the senator from Vermont. Climate change is his No. 1 issue, he says, as he holds a 鈥淢other Earth鈥� poster. He鈥檚 also been drawn to Bernie Sanders's proposals for education reform and free tuition for all.

鈥淏ernie is an honest man,鈥� Mr. Biron says. 鈥淗e speaks his mind 鈥� a lot like Trump 鈥� but with a lot more love.鈥�

References to the controversial real estate mogul, however, were very few at the rally, in fact. And surprisingly, when there were, there was little vitriol toward the leading GOP candidate, who has also on the Republican side. Sanders supporters here say they see common ground with Trump supporters in their desire to shake up the Washington establishment and their candidates' populist messages.

The actress and Coney Island native Rosario Dawson, who opened the evening rally on Thursday, even described Donald Trump as, in many ways, a fellow revolutionary at this moment in American political history. 聽

鈥淲e need to be reaching out and talking to those folks who are supporting Trump,鈥� Ms. Dawson told the Bronx crowd. 鈥淲hy? Because they are supporting him for a reason. They are standing up behind him because he鈥檚 opposed to the establishment as well. And they鈥檙e literally standing behind a guy who they know will go into the Oval Office and say, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e fired!鈥� 鈥欌��

鈥淚 can understand that,鈥� Ms. Dawson continued. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 supporting the guy who鈥檚 looking at all of us and saying, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e hired.鈥� 鈥�

Trump's inflammatory comments about Muslims, Latino immigrants, and women seemed less top of mind in Saint Mary's Park than his supporters鈥� demand for economic change. While supporters of the two insurgent candidates share a belief they've been left behind by the globalized, digital economy, a new shows that supporters of the two insurgent candidates are far apart on the issues. For example, 69 percent of Trump supporters think that immigrants are a burden on the US, while 14 percent of Sanders voters share that belief. Some 64 percent of Trump voters believe that Muslims should be subject to greater scrutiny, while just 12 percent of Sanders supporters do. Some 77 percent of Sanders voters believe that the government should be responsible for providing health care for all; just 14 percent of Trump voters do.

References to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, drew boos, hisses, and even shouts of anger. And while the Democratic race has not been nearly as much of a bitter intra-party battle as the Republican side, there are continuing signs of deep divisions among the Bernie and Hillary factions. 聽

Dawson excoriated 鈥渢he other Democratic candidate鈥� for referring to undocumented workers as 鈥渋llegals鈥� and for using the terms 鈥渟uperpredators鈥� and 鈥渄eadbeats鈥� when talking about crime and welfare reform in the past. 鈥淪hame on you, Hillary,鈥� she said, also referencing the FBI investigation into her use of a non-government email server.

Much of this, of course, can be attributed to the heat of the presidential race, and former Secretary of State Clinton鈥檚 commanding, if not nearly insurmountable, lead in the race for the Democratic nomination. But person after person at the rally expressed a deep distaste for 鈥渢he other candidate.鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 trust her, and I don鈥檛 think I would support her even if the Democratic party chooses her,鈥� says Stephanie Edwards, a public relations specialist from Washington Heights in Manhattan, and an eight-year veteran who served as a combat medic with the US Army. 鈥淚 feel like it鈥檚 time to break the mold, it鈥檚 time to do something different.鈥�

She notes, too, that 鈥渢his is the first time I鈥檝e ever gotten involved in a campaign to this magnitude,鈥� volunteering for Sanders鈥檚 phone banks and canvassing operations after hearing something she鈥檚 never heard before from a politician. Now 40, this was her first political rally.

Clinton鈥檚 support for the crime bill signed into law by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, directly affected her family, say Ms. Edwards. Her uncle was deported to the Dominican Republic after being convicted of two misdemeanor crimes in New York, she says.

Kevin Rose, a bartender in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, who immigrated from Canada 20 years ago, recently became a citizen just to vote for Sanders, he says. But he would 鈥渁bsolutely not鈥� vote for Clinton. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 trust her; never have, never will,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 will likely still vote for Bernie as a write-in campaign, if she wins.鈥�

Another speaker at the rally, the Puerto Rican rapper and multiple Grammy winner Residente, told the diverse crowd that 鈥淚t will represent an insult to consider yourself Latin American and vote for her,鈥� since she praised former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, 鈥渢he author of the most despicable Latin American genocide and the architect of Latin American dictatorship, responsible for all of those who disappeared in the '60s, '70s and '80s,鈥� he said.

Still, a path to a Sanders victory seems remote, and the delegate math is more than daunting. Sanders must win about 57 percent of the remaining delegates 鈥� or win most of the remaining races by landslides 鈥� just to barely surpass Clinton with a majority of pledged delegates. Then, he must convince enough superdelegates, those unbound party leaders and elected officials who overwhelmingly support Clinton at the moment, to shift their allegiance to his campaign. 聽

But most of the pledged delegates will be allocated in five big states 鈥� New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and California 鈥� where Clinton currently leads Sanders in polls. In New York, the former senator here leads her former colleague from Vermont 54 percent to 42 percent, released Thursday.

Sanders supporters, however, remain undaunted. And Clinton events don鈥檛 show nearly the same fervid, boisterous support 鈥� some even call it love 鈥� that is present at the Vermont candidate鈥檚 rallies.

鈥淎 great nation is judged not by how many millionaires and billionaires it has,鈥� he told his Bronx supporters on Thursday. 鈥淚t is judged by how it treats the most vulnerable people in that country.鈥�

He told the Bronx crowd of 15,000 how his father came to this country from Poland at the age of 17 鈥渨ithout a nickel in his pocket.鈥� He described how his family lived in a 3-1/2 room, rent-controlled apartment in nearby Brooklyn, where he went to high school, years ago. 鈥淪o I learned a little bit about what it means to grow up in a family that has no money, and I also learned a little bit about the immigrant experience. Those lessons I will never forget.鈥�

鈥淏ut this campaign,鈥� Sanders continued, 鈥渋s about creating a political revolution.鈥�

At this, the crowd erupted. Among those jumping and shouting was Raquel Rodriguez, a 21-year-old student and first-time voter, holding a sign with the '70s-era saying, 鈥淭he revolution will not be televised.鈥�

Her hand-made poster also slyly included the digital age slogans, #FeelTheBern, #BernieOrBust, and #StillSanders, as well as a diss: 鈥淗ey CNN, are you seein鈥� this?鈥�

Young people, she notes, prefer the free-wheeling hashtag communications of social media, especially since Sanders supporters say news networks have been ignoring their candidate while televising entire rallies of the Republican front-runner, the Queens-born billionaire Donald Trump 鈥� himself a master of the provocative tweet.

It鈥檚 statements like these that inspire Ms. Rodriguez, who takes college courses online, and says she never thought she would get so involved in politics 鈥� or 鈥渢his revolution.鈥�

鈥淚 cannot currently afford to get into a regular college or university, and that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 so pro-Bernie, so pro-education reform,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen countless kids in situations like mine fall behind, and just sort of fall by the wayside of the educational locomotive. It鈥檚 disgraceful, it really is.

鈥淏ut Bernie鈥檚 been there from day one fighting for the people,鈥� Rodriguez continues. 鈥淏ernie is only involved in politics because he gives a (darn), and that is a beautiful thing.鈥�