Thousands Gather On Boston Common To Hear Bernie Sanders 3 Days Before Super Tuesday

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders addressed thousands of his supporters on Boston Common Saturday.

Sanders urged supporters to contribute to a record turnout in Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary, when Massachusetts joins 13 other states, American Samoa and Democrats Abroad to select more than a third of the delegates going to the Democratic National Convention in July.

The rally on the Common was one of two Bay State campaign events Sanders held in the final days before the Massachusetts primary. On Friday night, Sanders first addressed supporters in the western part of the state, holding a rally at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Thousand turned out for that event, New England Public Radio reported.

"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," Sanders told supporters Friday.

A WBUR poll released Friday finds Sanders leads in Massachusetts, with 25% of likely voters in the Democratic primary saying they support him.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren trails Sanders in her home state, with 17% of likely voters saying they will vote for her.

Sanders's lead is especially strong among younger voters, and they dominated the crowd. But there were voters of all age groups listening to the candidate speak.

"I appreciate his firm stance on Medicare for All," said Kaysha Corinealdi, of Jamaica Plain, a professor at Emerson College.

Sanders predicted that he would beat Trump by increasing the number of Democrats heading to the polls in Election Day. But turnout has been mixed in the early primary states. In Iowa, turnout was relatively low, but New Hampshire voters turned out in record numbers, and in Nevada, they matched the record set in 2008.

"We are going to defeat Donald Trump because not only is he a pathological liar, he is a fraud," Sanders told the crowd.

Warren spent part of Saturday in South Carolina for the state's primary, and planned stops in the Super Tuesday states of Arkansas and Texas. In the South Carolina primary, recent polls have projected Sanders may come in second place behind former Vice President Joe Biden.

But Warren still had some presence in Massachusetts, with surrogates all over the state taking part in door-knocking campaigns for her.

"This is where the action is at," said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey at one such event in Boston. "We're about getting stuff done. We're about results, and that's why I'm so strongly supporting Elizabeth Warren, because she is the person who delivers."