Sanders Brings Presidential Campaign To Springfield, Mass., Ahead Of Super Tuesday

Updated at 11:11 p.m.

A few thousand supporters of Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders rallied Friday night at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, a few days before voters in Massachusetts and 13 other states weigh in on the Democratic nomination.

Sanders made a number of promises to the crowd should he win the nomination. The main promise was that he could beat Donald Trump. Sanders drew loud cheers as he listed the ways he said the president threatens democracy – and he cited recent polls putting him ahead of Trump in a general election.

"We are going to defeat Donald Trump, because the American people are sick and tired of a government that works for the rich and ignores everybody else," he said during a 42-minute speech.

Sanders also promised universal health care, an end to student debt, and the legalization of marijuana across the country.

With Super Tuesday just ahead, he did not make one reference to any of his Democratic rivals. And he ended with a call to his supporters to bring about the highest voter turnout ever for the Massachusetts primary.

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"We are in the process of putting together an unprecedented multi-racial, multi-generational grassroots movement," Sanders said. "This is not just a campaign. It is a movement that says to the corporate elite, you can not have it all. We're coming back."

Sanders' supporters started lining up for the rally hours before the doors opened. Hampshire College student Rose Raiser-Jeavons was among the first. She said she's attracted to Sanders's promise to treat all Americans equally. 

"I think Bernie has this vision to create a new reality, where the American dream is possible for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual, sexual orientation, ethnicity, background and even age," Raiser-Jeavons said. "He's bringing equity to today so we might have equality tomorrow, the way I see it."

Patrick Perry, 41, a furniture salesman, drove in from the Boston area to see the candidate speak.

"Bernie Sanders has been saying the same thing for the last 30 years — it's about inequality," Perry said. "It's about the powerful putting their thumbs on the scales. We're in a place right now where inequality is incredibly high, the gap between the wealthy and the poor. I feel like this could be our last chance to have an actual change in this country."

Perry said he believes Sanders has a real chance to beat Donald Trump in the general election — and if he doesn't get the nomination, the only other person he would consider voting for is Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

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Sam Northrup, 22, is a software marketer from Northampton, Massachusetts. Like Perry, he said he likes Sanders's message of income equality, as well as his stance against climate change. And he considers Sanders a good political bet.

"I know it seems like we see this every election cycle, but this is the most important election — presidential election — in my lifetime, so far at least," Northrup said. "And I feel like Bernie is the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in November."

If Sanders does not get the nomination, Northrup said he'll consider voting for another Democratic candidate in the general election — as long as it's not former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Sanders has announced he's holding another rally in Boston on Saturday.