Angie Nixon, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, held an energetic campaign rally Sunday night before several hundred people at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
It was part marching band revue and part getting people to vote in November. The Bay Area Drum Academy marched out as Nixon took the stage. She fed off the crowd's energy and gave back some of her own.
Nixon said other politicians claim there's not enough money to provide free college, increase teacher pay or provide universal health care.
"They try to say things like they don't have enough money to ensure that we have free college," she said to cheers. "They try to say that they don't have enough money to make sure that you all have access to quality health care, like universal health care. They try to say they don't have enough money to make sure our teachers get a raise."
"It's not that they don't have the money to do those things. It's that they don't have the political courage and the values to do the right thing." - Angie Nixon
"It's not that they don't have the money to do those things," she said. "It's that they don't have the political courage and the values to do the right thing."
Nixon talked about the affordability crisis and said there is an opportunity to give workers and young people the "opportunity to reach the true American dream."
"I know it's rough right now. I know people are working harder than ever and still struggling just to stay afloat, but it doesn't have to be this way," she said. "Can you all imagine if we started sending hardworking everyday people to Washington D.C., what type of policies we would push?"
Several of the students in the audience said Nixon speaks about issues other politicians ignore, like affordability.
Tyler Cairns is the outreach coordinator for USF Democrats.
"They're fed up with the way politics are in Florida," Cairns said. "I think costs are too high. Medicare, medical insurance costs are just so ridiculously expensive, and people see Angie Nixon as a breath of fresh air, really, honestly."
Cairns was then asked if the people he talks to believe that their voices are being heard.
"...when they see Angie Nixon speak, they really see she talks to the issues that regular people are experiencing. She lived them and she's talking about them." - Tyler Cairns
"Absolutely not," he said. "But, I think when they see Angie Nixon speak, they really see she talks to the issues that regular people are experiencing. She lived them and she's talking about them."
Alejandro Quintero, a 23-year-old recent graduate from the University of Florida, said he wants to hear more about affordability issues.
"I think a lot of the candidates do say that," he said. "I know in the governor's race, candidates like (James) Fishback were advocating for those things, and I don't necessarily think that the policies that they wanted to enact would have had that outcome. However, they were using that sort of rhetoric to garner populist support from the people around."
Kai Smith, 23, said he's having a hard time cracking the job market since he graduated from Florida State University. He believes most people are not getting any help from politicians in getting relief from rising prices.
"A K shape is forming, where the top people continue to grow and the people below continue to go lower. I want to see that become more equal," he said. "I want to see people have more opportunity, and I think she is the first step to making that happen."
Smith said he agrees with some of Nixon's positions as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America - but not all of them.
"Some of them, I feel, are slightly more left than I am, even just because a lot of it is anti-capitalist, which I still believe in free markets," he said. "I still believe in democracy, and I think it is really about helping people. The policies we make are supposed to be helping us and not corporations. That is the biggest theme I see from them and why I support a lot of the things they want to do."
"I want to see people have more opportunity, and I think she is the first step to making that happen." - Kai Smith
Ashanti Alramone is a student with a pre-law organization called Black Women in Law. This will be her first time voting, and she wants to hear about how she could better afford to go to college.
"I want to see her point of view, her perspectives on things, and just hear it straight from the source," she said before the rally, "and that's what I came here to do before I make any final decisions."
Getting people out to the polls on Nov. 3 was foremost on Nixon's mind.
"We are in a civil rights, human rights moment right now," she told the crowd. "And in this moment y'all need to decide, young people, how y'all wanna show up in this moment. Y'all need to determine what you want your legacy to be. What do you want your grandkids and great grandkids, or if you don't want to have kids, what do you want your nieces and nephews to say about you and how you showed up in this moment?"
