RICHMOND, Va. -- Bernie Sanders' supporters opened his Richmond campaign headquarters Thursday night at 217 W. Grace St., right across from the Richmond Police headquarters.
The place was packed - and excited, definitely "feeling the Bern!"
Pete Clerkin, Virginia campaign manager for Sanders, said, "It's fantastic to have such a genuine candidate, and somebody's message you can get behind."
He said it makes it easy to attract volunteers to "get out there and talk to voters about it."
Sanders tried to be the first one to set up shop here, but he's far from the first one to make noise in our crucial state.
Mark Holmberg and Pete Clerkin, Virginia campaign manager.
Donald Trump came here last year, followed by Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and Ted Cruz.
Soon Virginia and RVA will be center stage.
We're purple, up for grabs, a swing state, and the battleground.
And unlike skirmishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, our battle will last all year long. So get ready to see a whole lot of our future president, and a lot of the other hopefuls.
Trump and others fought to overthrow our loyalty pledge here.
On Wednesday, Marco Rubio announced more of his Virginia endorsements.
On Thursday, Hillary Clinton sent out high-fives to the Richmond Police Department for their new body-cam program.
We're going to be loved and courted like never before, because we could easily change the election.
The big, excited crowd "feeling the Bern" is just the beginning of a very presidential year here in Richmond, and Virginia.
You may even feel a little burn - burn out, that is.
