By Katy Rogers
Leading up to the Massachusetts Primary on Super Tuesday, March 1, and following the big win in New Hampshire, the Bernie Sanders Campaign office in Charlestown has been flooded with supporters from around the Boston area on a daily basis – fanning out all over the city to reach voters in the Democratic Primary.
“The biggest advantage we have from a Massachusetts standpoint is that a lot of our volunteers were already heading up to New Hampshire to knock on doors and call voters, so they’ve already been trained, they know what Election Day looks like, and they came back from New Hampshire full of energy and enthusiasm, which they’re putting to work here in the Commonwealth,” Bernie 2016 Massachusetts State Director Paul Feeney said.
The plan for March 1 is to act like they’re five points behind every day no matter what the polls say. While many have underestimated Sanders’s electability, New Hampshire proved otherwise.
“We knew we were running against the establishment. We knew that a lot of the current elected officials would be with another candidate,” Feeney said on the matter, not at all concerned about the potential of Sanders and his supporters.
In fact, he said, the campaign office in Charlestown was forced to expand in the past few weeks, due to the large capacity of volunteers filling it.
“Throughout the Commonwealth, there are thousands of people who have taken part in some way in this campaign,” Feeney shared. “We expanded part of the office, we had to, we had to give up our own offices to make room for volunteers.”
While the office is bustling with phone banking, volunteers are encouraged to reach out to their friends and family – to start a conversation about Sanders at home, he said.
“This is actually a hyper-local race,” said Political Director Joe Caiazzo. “There are things happening in people’s hometowns and neighborhoods. We’re having people talk to their friends and neighbors first. You can make a much stronger case to people you know and trust than strangers. It’s actually really interesting how many people are getting involved who usually don’t.”
The office shared that 136,000 individuals registered to vote within a six-week period this year, which may be a good sign for Sanders. “That’s a pretty high number,” Caiazzo added.
Sanders supporters look forward to March 1 optimistically, but are continuing to work mornings through evenings to spread the word. “For the people who want to get involved, they can send us a message at [email protected] or call 617-433-VOTE,” Caiazzo said, expecting even more volunteers to turn out in the final countdown to March 1.