Bernie Sanders feels the love in Vermont
For Bernie Sanders, Super Tuesday was not just about winning as many states as he could - it was also about returning to Vermont to thank the people of the Green Mountain State who gave him his start in politics over 30 years ago.
"You know we want to win in every part of the country, that goes without saying," Sanders explained at the top of his speech to the crowd of 4,000 in Essex Junction, but he emphasized that it does "mean something" that the people who know him best "voted so strongly to put us in the White House."
Sanders also enjoyed victories in Oklahoma, Colorado and Minnesota, but rival Hillary Clinton took a total of seven nominating contests on the night.
Some of those voters who gave him his start in politics felt that their faith in him had come full circle when they celebrated with him on Tuesday night.
"I was one of the 13 people who voted him in to be mayor [of Burlington] and I have just known him for years," explained Trudy Macy, a Vermonter decked out in a top hat affixed with a Bernie Sanders sticker. "It has to be Bernie. She is more of a politician and he is more of a people person," she says in describing why she is for Sanders over Clinton.
Macy really has known for a long time: she was a flight attendant for Metro Air Northeast when Sanders first got into Congress and would take weekly flights on the airline to and from D.C. She remembers him falling asleep on one of his first flights back to Vermont after a week in D.C. "If that did not make an impression on me, nothing will."
Jeff Weaver, his campaign manger, who started working with the senator in 1986, is in the same boat.
"I was a young man driving him around in a governor's race where he got 14 percent of the vote," Weaver said, comparing himself to the folks donating to the campaign. "I have stood with him for 30 years, so I know other people will stick with him too."
New Vermont blood is also keen on Sanders - and they want him to stay in the race.
At 25 years old, Meredith Oakman had never voted because "there was never really a reason or a candidate to get involved." Now things have changed: "Bernie was the first person that made me care."
Oakman believes "Bernie is a fighter," and he has a good chance going forward because he "represents the American people and what we want."
Savannah Solomon, age 24, agrees.
"He represents everything that we stand for," she said. When asked if he should drop out, she dismisses the idea. "Absolutely, he should stay in. He has brought such a good atmosphere and such a good vibe to people. People really look up to him and are inspired by him."
She does not want to see Sanders get out now. That sentiment echoed throughout the Champlain Valley Exposition as applause for their senator exploded on Super Tuesday - after just about every one of his lines.
"He just kept steamrolling down the line. It is amazing," Macy explained.
Does she think he can win the general election?
"I don't know. But I voted for him," Macy explained with hope in her eyes. "I know that he will just keep working for the people, for the regular everyday person out there."