AUSTIN (Nexstar) — College lecture halls up and down Texas’ “Blue Spine” attracted a who’s-who of national progressive icons this week — Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez headlined rallies with Greg Casar and Beto O’Rourke to drive youth turnout, spreading an unapologetically progressive message from which most Democrats running statewide in Texas have shied away.
Colin Allred and Kamala Harris, for example, campaigned against fracking and for a Medicare-for-All plan when running in Democratic primaries. This year, they are taking a more tempered approach, casting themselves as moderates who pose no threat to Texans’ gas or guns.
But Bernie Sanders thinks the progressive message is a winning one. He sat down with Nexstar for an interview ahead of his rally in Austin on Wednesday.
“We don’t think Texas is quite so red,” he said. “We think Texas has huge potential to become a more progressive state. You have a lot of young people, a lot of working-class people, you have a strong trade union movement. And I think people right now want to fight for a nation and a government that works for all and not just the few. That’s what I’m seeing here in Texas.”