Wisconsin primary week raged on in Milwaukee on Tuesday. At the same time Republican candidates debated Anderson Cooper and one another Downtown during a CNN-hosted Town Hall, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders took the stage in front of an excitable crowd of about 2,000 supporters at the Product Pavilion at Wisconsin State Fair Park on Tuesday evening, bringing his familiar rallying cries and policy ideals.

Heading into next week’s Wisconsin primary, Sanders currently trails fellow Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton by most metrics. With 2,049 delegates still up for grabs, Clinton leads in pledged delegates, 1,243 to 975, as well as in superdelegates, 469 to 29. However, enthusiasm was still high for the Vermont senator among those waiting in line prior to his Milwaukee rally. At 4 p.m., an hour before the doors opened, the line stretched from the Product Pavilion past the Exhibition Center. The supporter at the very front of the line, 18-year-old student Star, had arrived earlier that day at 8:30 a.m.

"He’s for all the people, not just a certain group or only some people," Star explained, also citing Sanders’ stance on environmental issues as reason for her support and feeling "a pretty good chance" about Sanders winning the nomination. And if he doesn’t? "I don’t even know, because I don’t like any of the other candidates, like Hillary or Trump or anything. But I think he will."

Going down the line, many shared similar sentiments and rationales for their Bernie support, citing his consistency and seemingly earnest approach over his decades-long career in politics.

"He’s willing to start new movements, and he’s willing to help out the younger generation," said Fidel Carrillo, a 19-year-old Carroll University marketing student from Chicago, in particular noting Sanders’ stances on health care, free education and the justice system. Joining him in line was fellow Carroll University student Melita Vellian, who added environmental issues to the list of reasons why Sanders earned their support in the first election in which they could participate.

"I think it’s so insane how, this year, all the millennials are joining into this," Fidel said. "We’re all so into politics, all in the moment, we’re getting educated. The political science that we learned in our education, we’re finally getting to use it."

Though the majority of the crowd gathered outside State Fair Park leaned young and white, a diverse collection of demographics and perspectives could still be found in the line. Standing just behind Fidel and Melita was 66-year-old retiree Bob (some attendees preferred not to give their last names), who joined the rally less to voice his support – he labeled himself as currently undecided in terms of his vote – and more simply to hear the politician’s ideas.

"He intrigues me; I want to hear what he says – somebody different than the run-of-the-mill politician, I think," he explained.

Further down the line stood an international perspective on Sanders and the campaign season, as two British students, Tom and Gerrick, along with Jennifer, a German exchange student, waited to see the Democratic presidential candidate despite not having an actual vote in the coming election.

"Bernie agrees with the rest of the world, in a way," the Brits – one a Hong Kong native currently studying at UWM, the other merely visiting – explained, describing Donald Trump as "the epitome of every negative American stereotype," with Sanders as the opposite. "It’s worrying (watching the election). At the start, everyone was like, oh, Donald Trump is just sort of a racist old grandpa, he’s not actually going to win anything. And then he started winning things.

"We’re almost embarrassed for you."

Jennifer, more than halfway through a year studying abroad in the United States, added her appreciation for Sanders’ support of free college and cheaper education – something Germany offers, she noted – as well as her surprise and concern about Trump’s popularity.

"I feel like it’s really funny to watch all of the things you see on the Internet, like what people think about him and why they support him," she said. "It kind of reminds me how it went in Germany a long time ago. I’m a bit scared that he could get somewhere with it, because that would impact the whole world in a really bad way."

When it came to Sanders’ standing in the Democratic race, most seemed optimistic about his current second-place position. However, when asked what they’d do if Bernie didn’t win the nomination, supporters’ thoughts were less united. Some said they’d vote Democrat no matter who came away with the nomination. Others said they’d likely write in a vote for Sanders.

"I’m at a loss; if it’s not him, I don’t know," said Katie Taylor, a 24-year-old bartender. "I’ll still use my voice to vote, but I guess I’ll have to dig a little deeper and vote to combat a different evil. But it’s voting for one evil to combat another, so I’ll have to dig deep to figure out what I’ll do. But that time hasn’t come yet, so we’ll see."

At 5 p.m., however, the time had come for the line to finally move into the pavilion, and a little more than two and a half hours later, Sanders made it to the stage to pitch himself and deliver some encouraging words to the enthusiastic supporters gathered inside.

"We have won six out of the last seven contests," Sanders said early in his remarks, "and with your help next week, we’ll make it seven out of eight." Later on, using the results of a CNN poll making Sanders a winner over Trump by 20 points, Sanders argued, "If Democrats want the strongest candidate to make sure that no Republican gets into the White House, you’re looking at him."

The speech, lasting a little over an hour, crossed a wide range of topics – such as his self-proclaimed "radical … outside the box" goals for education and economic reform – while also hitting on several of his campaign’s common narratives, telling of its origins 11 months ago as "a fringe candidacy," calling for "a political revolution" and promoting its average $27 donations over the use of super PACs. And, like any good politician stumping in Wisconsin, he even fit in a Packer reference, noting, "Democracy is not a spectator sport; watching the Green Bay Packers is a spectator sport."

After his opening remarks, Sanders spent much of the early segment of his speech discussing voting rights, calling out Gov. Scott Walker "and all the other cowardly Republican governors" and saying politicians need to make it easier to vote rather than harder for people to participate.

"In Vermont, I have run for office a number of times; sometimes I’ve lost, sometimes – most of the times – I’ve won," he said. "It has never occurred to me – not for one second – to try to figure out a way to keep people from voting because they might be voting against me.

"If you are afraid of a free and fair election, get out of politics," he added.

Sanders continued comparing his political plans and ideals against Gov. Walker, listing his plans for helping work unions, education, economics, campaign finance reform, women’s rights and more.

"In other words, you can get a pretty good understanding of what I’ll do as president by looking at Scott Walker and seeing I will do the exact opposite," Sanders said to cheers from the crowd. He jokingly added, "I am sure there are areas we agree on, but I just haven’t seen them yet."

Sanders then segued into a segment about "real truths," digging further into America’s "corrupt" campaign financing, "rigged" economy and "broken" justice system – from police brutality to the War on Drugs to the general mindset when discussing substance abuse and addiction.

"In my view, the best way to get a handle on that crisis is to understand that substance abuse and addiction is a health issue, not a criminal issue," he stated.

Education was the next major bullet point in Sanders’ stump speech, noting that "the world is different today than it was 50 years ago," with a college degree now equaling a high school degree from half a century ago, yet the economic views and toward education and college staying the same. Sanders proposed allowing those in student debt to "refinance their student loans at the lowest interest rates they can find" and helping create free colleges, with a tax on Wall Street speculation helping to pay for these educational reforms. He also discussed the wealth gap, noting that, "Before we rebuild Iraq, we might want to rebuild Milwaukee and Flint, Michigan."

Sanders continued firing through policy points, hitting on women’s rights and issues pertaining to Latino, African American and Native American communities – the last of which transitioned into a discussion on the environment and the emphatic statement that "climate change is real."

After discussing his plans for health care – praising the Affordable Care Act but saying "we have got to do much more," calling for a Medicare For All health program – Sanders finally got around to talking about his current political rival, fellow Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whose name was greeted with some grumbling though no outright booing.

Sanders contrasted himself with Clinton, noting their differences in opinion on the use of super PACs and referencing speeches Clinton was paid to give Wall Street businesses. Jokingly noting that a speech worth $250,000 "must be a speech written in Shakespearean prose," Sanders stated that if it was worth that much for Wall Street companies, she should share it with the whole country.

Sanders went on to discuss the differences between himself and Clinton regarding trade policies, the Iraq War and fracking. But by the end of his speech, Sanders put the emphasis on a different political opponent: current GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Noting that demagogues tend to scapegoat minorities, Sanders told the crowd, "Our job is to come together." When that happens, he added, "there is nothing we cannot accomplish" – a point aided by his previous listing of revolutions and movements over the years, from labor fights to the Civil Rights Movement to women’s suffrage to recent moves in LGBT rights and minimum wage increases.

"Love always trumps hatred," Sanders noted before ending his speech and cueing David Bowie’s "Star Man." Much like the Star Man and Major Tom, however, Wisconsin’s verdict on Tuesday is still up in the air.