LYNCHBURG, Virginia – A Southern evangelical university is an unlikely place for a socialist-leaning Jew from Brooklyn to spend his Rosh Hashanah, and yet that’s how Sen. Bernie Sanders is passing his high holiday Monday, giving a speech to Liberty University here. 
 
 It’s equally unlikely that a school whose own version of the 10 Commandments includes “a strong commitment to political conservatism [and] total rejection of socialism” would not only invite the Vermont “democratic-soclaist” to come speak, but require its students to attend. 
 
 And yet, since Sanders is speaking as part of the school’s twice-weekly convocation program, attendance is mandatory (punishable by a small fine) for all students who live on campus. 
 
 For Sanders, the appearance is part of the presidential candidate’s 50-state strategy and conviction that he can win over supporters in almost any crowd. As Congress’ longest serving independent, he has traveled places Democrats typically avoid. Aides say he can surpass expectations by bringing a-typical voters to the polls and caucus-rooms. 
 
 Related: Sanders closes gap with Clinton in polls 
 
 Sanders has made several swings through the South, and Virginia is a delegate-rich state that holds is primary in March, a state that could decide the Democratic nomination if Sanders manages beat front-runner Hillary Clinton in one of the early contests. 
 
 For Liberty, the appearance is the product of an unexpected acceptance of a largely perfunctory invitation. 
 
 Founded by social conservative activist and televangelist Jerry Falwell in the 1970s, Liberty has 13,000 residential students who were until recently required to abide a by a strict code of conduct. With another 100,000 online, it’s the largest evangelical Christian college in the world and politically leans hard-right. 
 
 In addition to rejecting socialism, the school demands “firm support for America’s economic system of free enterprise,” and “an absolute repudiation of ‘political correctness.’” Sen. Ted Cruz declared his presidential run here in the spring during another convocation. 
 
 But the school is also a non-profit organization, and thus officially non-partisan. Like many other non-profits, the school typically invites every presidential candidate of both parties to stay on the good side of the IRS and avoid the appearance of favoritism, explained spokesperson university Mitzi Bible. 
 
 That includes Clinton and other Democrats. But until now, a Democratic presidential candidate had never accepted. 
 
 Sanders is likely to steer clear of hot-button social issues like his support of funding for Planned Parenthood and instead focus on places where he thinks he can find common-ground with the students here. 
 
 Whether he wins any votes among the thousands expected, however, remains to be seen. ||||| CLOSE Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks about why he will be visiting Liberty University on Monday. USA TODAY 
 
 Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. gestures during a speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., on Sept. 14, 2015. (Photo: Steve Helber, AP) 
 
 LYNCHBURG, Va. — Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke Monday at an evangelical school where he framed his fight against wealth and income inequality in terms of morality and justice. 
 
 Sanders, a Vermont independent running for the Democratic presidential nomination, conceded that many in the audience at Liberty University, founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, disagree with his support for abortion rights and gay marriage. But he suggested they might agree that, at a time when “a handful of people have wealth beyond comprehension,” other people shouldn’t have to struggle to feed their families, put a roof over their heads or visit a doctor. 
 
 “When we talk about morality and when we talk about justice, we have to, in my view, understand that there is no justice when so few have so much and so many have so little,” he said to applause from the audience of nearly 12,000. 
 
 Sanders said he chose to speak at the school because it's important to find common ground. There is no justice, he said, when the rich get richer and children go to bed hungry and low-income mothers return to work a week after delivering a baby because they can't afford to stay home. 
 
 "It is imperative that we have the courage to stand with the poor, to stand with working people and when necessary to take on very powerful and wealthy people whose greed in my view is doing this country enormous harm," he said to applause. 
 
 David Nasser, the school's senior vice president for spiritual development, drew loud applause after the speech when he told Sanders on stage that, while most Christians agree it’s immoral to protect billionaires at the expense of society's most vulnerable citizens, they would say unborn children need protection, too. 
 
 Sanders also drew applause in responding that it's "improper" for the government to involve itself in this "painful and difficult choice" for women. 
 
 "I don’t want to be too provocative here, but very often conservatives say, 'Get the government out of my life,'" he said. "On this very sensitive issue…my view is I respect absolutely a family that says, 'No, we are not going to have an abortion.' But I would hope that other people respect the very painful and difficult choice that many women feel they have to make and don’t want the government telling them what they have to do." 
 
 Students' responses to Sanders' remarks ranged from light clapping to loud cheers. 
 
 Student Government Association president Quincy Thompson, 22, of Dallas, said Sanders connected with students, who were excited to hear a different perspective. Thompson, a pastoral leadership major, said Sanders' statistics on poverty “struck a chord” with him personally. But he said churches – not the government – should address those needs. 
 
 “From today, I’m going to be more aware of the people that are in need in my community of Lynchburg,” Thompson said. 
 
 The late Rev. Falwell, a televangelist and conservative political commentator who died in 2007, founded Liberty University in 1971. It’s now the largest private, nonprofit university in the nation. Its code of conduct urges “caution” when viewing movies rated R or PG-13 and bans sexual relations outside marriage between a “natural-born” man and woman. Faculty are asked to affirm a doctrinal statement based on Christian beliefs. 
 
 The school has become a regular stop for conservative candidates. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced his presidential campaign there in March. 
 
 Students are generally conservative. In 2012, 93 percent of Liberty students who voted on campus supported Republican Mitt Romney, according to the school. 
 
 Liberty drew negative attention in 2009 when a school official revoked its recognition of a club for college Democrats. But school president and Falwell's son, Jerry Falwell Jr,. called the official’s actions an “aberration.” He said during an interview last week the school now allows political clubs to meet on campus but doesn’t endorse any of them. 
 
 Liberty student Derek Atlas, 19, of New York, said he’s against abortion but is more left-leaning than his fellow students on a variety of issues. He said he’s wary of Sanders’ “socialist views” but admires him for fighting for the middle class, minorities and women rather than for big business. 
 
 “I believe Christ tells us to help the poor, feed the needy and shelter the homeless,” said Atlas. “I like how (Sanders) wages war on poverty, not poor people.” 
 
 Catherine Trevithick, 22, of Reston, Va., said she opposes abortion, “big government,” and gun control. She likes Republican candidate Donald Trump and said switching to Sanders would be “a long shot.” 
 
 “But I’m not going to be close-minded and ignore what he has to say,” she said before the speech. “College is a time to hear from people of all backgrounds and opinions.” 
 
 As a nonprofit, the school must invite all candidates who are running for a particular office. Sanders is the first of the candidates running for the Democratic nomination to accept, and his speech was mandatory for all residential undergraduate students. 
 
 Falwell said in an interview last week that he was “pleasantly surprised,” when he learned Sanders would participate. He hopes Sanders’ appearance helps reverse the impression that the school isn’t open to opposing views. The university is in the middle of a $500 million expansion and wants to advance to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. 
 
 “We’ve always tried to present both sides because we believe that college students are at an age where they need to hear viewpoints from all ends of the spectrum,” Falwell said. “We’re proud of our students for treating speakers that are not in line with their views with respect.” 
 
 CLOSE Sen. Bernie Sanders discusses his campaign's success and the challenges he faces going forward. USA TODAY 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1F8NmX5 ||||| Video 
 
 LYNCHBURG, Va. – Senator Bernie Sanders took his message of confronting inequality to unfamiliar ground on Monday at Liberty University, a leading evangelical Christian college, where he sought to build what he called “common ground” with students, beginning with the foundations of Christianity itself: the Bible. 
 
 “I am far, far from a perfect human being, but I am motivated by a vision which exists in all of the great religions — in Christianity, in Judaism, in Islam, Buddhism and other religions — and which is so beautifully and clearly stated in Matthew 7:12,” Mr. Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, told the crowd at a convocation. “And it states: ‘So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.’ That is the golden rule. Do to others what you would have them do to you. 
 
 “It is not very complicated,” he added. 
 
 Mr. Sanders, who is Jewish, was greeted politely by the crowd. He noted at the outset of his speech that he and the audience members would have views “on a number of important issues that are very, very different,” especially on abortion and same-sex marriage. 
 
 But he then spoke almost entirely on the issue of poverty and income inequality, borrowing from his traditional stump speech while framing the populist message within the confines of a sense of social justice and faith. 
 
 “I want all of you, if you would, to put this in the context of the Bible, not me,” Mr. Sanders, of Vermont, told the crowd of nearly 12,000 at a college where attendance at convocation is usually compulsory. 
 
 His speech was peppered with repeated calls for “morality” and “justice” when he spoke about issues that have been central to his campaign, like fighting childhood poverty and raising the minimum wage. He used the phrase “family values” when making a case for extended maternity and paid sick leave. He quoted another verse from the Bible, Amos 5:24, when calling for people of all races to be treated with “respect and with dignity.” 
 
 He saved some of his most strident remarks for discussing race and racism in a question-and-answer session after the speech. 
 
 Speaking about America in response to a question on race and racism, he said: “I would also say that as a nation, the truth is, that a nation which in many ways was created, and I’m sorry to have to say this, from way back on racist principles, that’s a fact. We have come a long way as a nation.” 
 
 Over all, he said he hoped that these calls for “justice” would rise above the divisions surrounding social issues. 
 
 “That’s the main point I was trying to make, that morality is more than just your view on abortions or gay rights,” Mr. Sanders said in an interview after the event. “Moral issues are also hungry children. Moral issues is also the state of our planet and climate change.” 
 
 The speech played on an image Mr. Sanders has cultivated, intentionally or not, that his message aligns occasionally with the beliefs of those in religious communities. The hosts of his national organizing day rally in July, for example, described themselves as “religious conservatives,” but were drawn to Mr. Sanders because they thought his message adhered to the calls of St. Francis of Assisi and other Christian leaders to care for the poor. He often quotes Pope Francis, both on social media and in his speeches, and he did here Monday as well. 
 
 “I think it’s a message that runs throughout Judaism, runs through Islam — it runs through all religions,” Mr. Sanders said in the interview. 
 
 His campaign billed the speech as an effort to highlight the importance of those with differing views engaging in civil discourse. And while he most likely will not gain broad support from evangelicals, Mr. Sanders is also the only Democratic candidate so far to reach out to them in such a direct manner. 
 
 His speech, however, did not land with the thunderous applause or the enthusiasm that greeted Senator Ted Cruz of Texas when he announced his candidacy here in March. Often, as Mr. Sanders spoke, he was greeted with polite, if tepid, applause from students. Most students who were questioned afterward said that their minds had not been changed about Mr. Sanders. 
 
 “Calling on us to help the neediest, that resonates with me as a Christian,” said Quincy Thompson, the student body president, who had a chance to briefly meet Mr. Sanders after the event. “But as a Christian, I think the responsibility to help them falls to the church, not the government.” 
 
 Others could not look past differences on social issues. 
 
 “How can he be for family values but also for abortion?” said Adam Ochs, a sophomore political science major from California. 
 
 And Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of the university, which was founded by his father, seemed to echo a similar statement of recognizing the issues, but differing on the solutions. 
 
 “I think it was Margaret Thatcher who said that the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money,” Mr. Falwell said in an interview after the event, making the case that he thought working toward a limited government and lowering taxes would “create the tide that rises all ships.” But he still found areas on which he agreed with Mr. Sanders. 
 
 “We have the same goals, helping people in need, we just have different philosophies on how to get there,” he said. 
 
 But Mr. Sanders did appear to change the minds of a few students. 
 
 “I liked almost everything he said,” said Sarah Fleet, a sophomore who grew up just a few miles from the university in southern Virginia. She noted that she did not agree with Mr. Sanders’s views on abortion, but that his calls to help address childhood poverty and hunger resonated. 
 
 “And there’s no one who should be expecting everyone to agree on everything,” she said. ||||| Here is the full speech made by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at Liberty University in Virginia on September 14, 2015. (Liberty University) 
 
 Bernie Sanders spoke at Liberty University, the school founded by Jerry Falwell, on Monday. The speech, noteworthy for where Sanders, an avowed liberal, delivered it, was also an interesting appeal for those of differing beliefs to find common ground. I've annotated it below using Genius. Feel free to annotate alongside me! 
 
 
 
 Thank you, President Falwell and David. Thank you very much for inviting my wife, Jane, and me to be with you even this morning. We appreciate the invitation very much. 
 
 And let me start off by acknowledging what I think all of you already know. And that is the views that many here at Liberty University have and I, on a number of important issues, are very, very different. I believe in a woman's rights.... 
 
 And the right of a woman to control her own body. 
 
 I believe gay rights and gay marriage. 
 
 Those are my views, and it is no secret. But I came here today, because I believe from the bottom of my heart that it is vitally important for those of us who hold different views to be able to engage in a civil discourse. 
 
 Too often in our country -- and I think both sides bear responsibility for us -- there is too much shouting at each other. There is too much making fun of each other. 
 
 Now, in my view, and I say this as somebody whose voice is hoarse, because I have given dozens of speeches in the last few months, it is easy to go out and talk to people who agree with you. I was in Greensboro, North Carolina, just last night. All right. We had 9,000 people out. Mostly they agreed with me. Tonight, we're going to be in Manassas, and have thousands out and they agree with me. That's not hard to do. That's what politicians by and large do. 
 
 We go out and we talk to people who agree with us. 
 
 But it is harder, but not less important, for us to try and communicate with those who do not agree with us on every issue. 
 
 And it is important to see where if possible, and I do believe it is possible, we can find common ground. 
 
 Now, Liberty University is a religious school, obviously. 
 
 And all of you are proud of that. 
 
 You are a school which, as all of us in our own way, tries to understand the meaning of morality. What does is mean to live a moral life? And you try to understand, in this very complicated modern world that we live in, what the words of the Bible mean in today's society. 
 
 You are a school which tries to teach its students how to behave with decency and with honesty and how you can best relate to your fellow human beings, and I applaud you for trying to achieve those goals. 
 
 Let me take a moment, or a few moments, to tell you what motivates me in the work that I do as a public servant, as a senator from the state of Vermont. And let me tell you that it goes without saying, I am far, far from being a perfect human being, but I am motivated by a vision, which exists in all of the great religions, in Christianity, in Judaism, in Islam and Buddhism, and other religions. 
 
 And that vision is so beautifully and clearly stated in Matthew 7:12, and it states, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them to do to you, for this sums up the war and the prophets." That is the golden rule. Do unto others, what you would have them do to you. That is the golden rule, and it is not very complicated. 
 
 Let me be frank, as I said a moment ago. I understand that the issues of abortion and gay marriage are issues that you feel very strongly about. We disagree on those issues. I get that, but let me respectfully suggest that there are other issues out there that are of enormous consequence to our country and in fact to the entire world, that maybe, just maybe, we do not disagree on and maybe, just maybe, we can try to work together to resolve them. 
 
 Amos 5:24, "But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream." Justice treating others the way we want to be treated, treating all people, no matter their race, their color, their stature in life, with respect and with dignity. 
 
 Now here is my point. Some of you may agree with me, and some of you may not, but in my view, it would be hard for anyone in this room today to make the case that the United States of America, our great country, a country which all of us love, it would be hard to make the case that we are a just society, or anything resembling a just society today. 
 
 In the United States of America today, there is massive injustice in terms of income and wealth inequality. Injustice is rampant. We live, and I hope all of you know this, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. 
 
 But most Americans don't know that. Because almost all of that wealth and income is going to the top 1 percent. 
 
 You know, that is the truth. We are living in a time -- and I warn all of you if you would, put this in the context of the Bible, not me, in the context of the Bible -- we are living in a time where a handful of people have wealth beyond comprehension. And I'm talking about tens of billions of dollars, enough to support their families for thousands of years. With huge yachts, and jet planes and tens of billions. More money than they would ever know what to do with. 
 
 But at that very same moment, there are millions of people in our country, let alone the rest of the world, who are struggling to feed their families. They are struggling to put a roof over their heads, and some of them are sleeping out on the streets. They are struggling to find money in order to go to a doctor when they are sick. 
 
 Now, when we talk about morality, and when we talk about justice, we have to, in my view, understand that there is no justice when so few have so much and so many have so little. 
 
 There is no justice, and I want you to hear this clearly, when the top one-tenth of 1 percent -- not 1 percent, the top one-tenth of 1 percent -- today in America owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. And in your hearts, you will have to determine the morality of that, and the justice of that. 
 
 In my view, there is no justice, when here, in Virginia and Vermont and all over this country, millions of people are working long hours for abysmally low wages of $7.25 an hour, of $8 an hour, of $9 an hour, working hard, but unable to bring in enough money to adequately feed their kids. 
 
 And yet, at that same time, 58 percent of all new income generated is going to the top 1 percent. You have got to think about the morality of that, the justice of that, and whether or not that is what we want to see in our country. 
 
 In my view, there is no justice when, in recent years, we have seen a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires, while at the same time the United States of America has the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on Earth. How can we? I want you to go into your hearts, how can we talk about morality, about justice, when we turn our backs on the children of our country? 
 
 Now you have got to think about it. You have to think about it and you have to feel it in your guts. Are you content? Do you think it's moral when 20 percent of the children in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, are living in poverty? Do you think it is acceptable that 40 percent of African American children are living in poverty? 
 
 In my view, there is no justice, and morality suffers when in our wealthy country, millions of children go to bed hungry. That is not morality and that is not in my view ... what America should be about. 
 
 In my view, there is no justice when the 15 wealthiest people in this country in the last two years -- two years -- saw their wealth increase by $170 billion. Two years. The wealthiest 15 people in this country saw their wealth increase by $170 billion. 
 
 My friends, that is more wealth acquired in a two-year period than is owned by the bottom 130 million Americans. And while the very, very rich become much richer, millions of families have no savings at all. Nothing in the bank. And they worry every single day that if their car breaks down, they cannot get to work, and if they cannot get to work, they lose their jobs. 
 
 And if they lose their jobs, they do not feed their family. In the last two years, 15 people saw $170 billion increase in their wealth, 45 million Americans live in poverty. That in my view is not justice. That is a rigged economy, designed by the wealthiest people in this country to benefit the wealthiest people in this country at the expense of everybody else. 
 
 In my view, there is no justice when thousands of Americans die every single year because they do not have any health insurance and do not go to a doctor when they should. I have talked personally to doctors throughout Vermont and physicians around the country. And without exception, they tell me there are times when patients walk into their office very, very sick and they say, why didn't you come in here when you're sick? And the answer is, I do not have any health insurance or I have a high deductible or I thought the problem would get better. And sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes they die because they lack health insurance. 
 
 That is not justice. That is not morality. People should not be dying in the United States of America when they are sick. 
 
 What that is, is an indication that we are the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all people as a right, and I think we should change that. 
 
 And I think -- I think that when we talk about morality, what we are talking about is all of God's children. The poor, the wretched, they have a right to go to a doctor when they are sick. 
 
 You know, there is a lot of talk in this country from politicians about family values. You have all heard that. Well, let me tell you about a family value. 
 
 In my view, there is no justice when low income and working class mothers are forced to separate from their babies one or two weeks after birth and go back to work because they need the money that their jobs provide. Now I know everybody here -- we all are, maybe in different ways, but all of us believe in family values. 
 
 Jane and I have four kids. We have seven beautiful grandchildren. We believe in family values. But it is not a family value when all of you know that the most important moments and time of a human being's life is the first weeks and months after that baby is born. That is the moment when mothers bonds with the baby; gets to love and know her baby -- dad is there as well. That is what a family is about. And those of you -- at least those of you who are parents -- more parents back here than there I suspect. You know what an unforgettable moment that is. What an important moment that is. And I want you to think, whether you believe it is a family value, that the United States of America is the only -- only -- major country on earth that does not provide paid family and medical leave. 
 
 Now in English, what that means is that all over the world when a woman has her baby she is guaranteed the right because society understands how important that moment is. She is guaranteed the right to stay home and get income in order to nurture her baby. And that is why I believe when we talk about family values that the United States government must provide at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. 
 
 In my view there is no justice in our country when youth unemployment exists at tragically high levels. I requested a study last month from a group of economists. And what they told me is that 51 percent of African American high school graduates between the ages of 17 and 20 are unemployed or underemployed -- 51 percent. 
 
 We have in this country sufficient amounts of money to put more people in jail than any other country on earth. The United States has more people in jail than China; a communist authoritarian country. 
 
 But apparently we do not have enough money to provide jobs and education to our young people. I believe that's wrong. 
 
 I am not a theologian, I am not an expert on the Bible, nor am I a Catholic. I am just a United States senator from the small state of Vermont. But I agree with Pope Francis, who will soon be coming to visit us in the United States. 
 
 I agree with Pope Francis when he says, and I quote, "The current financial crisis originated in a profound human crisis, the denial of the primacy of the human person," and this is what he writes: "We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose," end of quote. 
 
 And the pope also writes, quote, "There is a need for financial reform along ethical lines that would produce in its turn an economic reform to benefit everyone. Money has to serve, not to rule," end of quote. 
 
 Now those are pretty profound words, which I hope we will all think about. In the pope's view, and I agree with him, we are living in a nation and in a world, and the Bible speaks to this issue, in a nation and in a world which worships not love of brothers and sisters, not love of the poor and the sick, but worships the acquisition of money and great wealth. I do not believe that is the country we should be living in. 
 
 Money and wealth should serve the people. The people should not have to serve money and wealth. (APPLAUSE) 
 
 Throughout human history, there has been endless discussion. It is part of who we are as human beings, people who think and ask questions, endless discussion and debate about the meaning of justice and about the meaning of morality. And I know that here at Liberty University, those are the kinds of discussions you have every day, and those are the kinds of discussions you should be having and the kinds of discussions we should be having all over America. 
 
 I would hope, and I conclude with this thought, I would hope very much that as part of that discussion and part of that learning process, some of you will conclude that if we are honest in striving to be a moral and just society, it is imperative that we have the courage to stand with the poor, to stand with working people and when necessary, take on very powerful and wealthy people whose greed, in my view, is doing this country enormous harm. 
 
 Thank you all very much. ||||| Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersFive tough decisions for the GOP on healthcare Booker on hug with McCain after healthcare vote: 'I'm a hugger' Former DNC chair criticizes ‘whiny’ left MORE sought to frame the fight against inequality as a moral obligation in a Monday address to a Christian conservative audience at Liberty University in Virginia. 
 
 Quoting scripture at times, the Vermont Independent and self-described Democratic socialist connected issues such as poverty, income disparity and racism with a biblical call for justice and righteousness. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 “When we talk about morality and when we talk about justice, we have to, in my view, understand that there is no justice when so few have so much and so many have so little,” he said during the school’s convocation address. 
 
 Convocation is a mandatory assembly that takes place three times a week at the Evangelical college founded by Jerry Falwell, a major player in the Christian conservative movement before his death in 2007. 
 
 “If we are honest in striving to be a moral and just society, it is imperative that we have the courage to stand with the poor, to stand with working people, and when necessary, take on very powerful and wealthy people whose greed, in my view, is doing this country enormous harm.” 
 
 Sanders acknowledged right off the bat that his Democratic-socialist bent wouldn’t jibe with the ideals of the majority of the Liberty student body. As MSNBC first reported, the school specifically calls for a “strong commitment to political conservatism [and] total rejection of socialism.” 
 
 “It is easy to go out and talk to people who agree with you,” Sanders said. 
 
 “It is harder, but not less important, for us to try to communicate with those who do not agree with us on every issue and it is important to see where, if possible, and I do believe its possible, we can find common grounds.” 
 
 A small throng of Sanders supporters loudly cheered after most of his points, but his overall reception was much more muted. His calls for common ground and pushing back against racism elicited cheers from a much wider group, but the majority of the crowd remained mum during the portion of his stump speech about economic inequality. 
 
 Sanders spent a significant time on his call to protect the vulnerable, whether they are the poor, minorities or youths, and said that the push for family values should prioritize issues like paid family leave. 
 
 During a question-and-answer session after the speech, a moderator asked Sanders about why he won’t protect the group that most students feel are among the most vulnerable: The unborn. Sanders noted that he didn’t want to get political, yet bashed conservatives for calling for limited government but increasing restrictions on abortions. 
 
 “I respect absolutely a family that says, 'No, we are not going to have an abortion,'” he said. 
 
 “But I would hope that other people respect the very painful and difficult choice that many women feel they have to make and don’t want the government to tell them what they have to do.” 
 
 Sanders’s speech comes as he continues to gain steam in the polls. Last week’s CNN/ORC Poll found that he cut Hillary Clinton Hillary Rodham ClintonClintons attend private screening of 'Wonder Woman' Rosenstein: Trump did not direct feds to investigate Clinton GOP senator: I wish Republicans had stood up to birtherism MORE’s lead in national polls to just 10 percentage points as other polls show an even tighter race in Iowa and New Hampshire. 
 
 He’s not the first presidential candidate to speak at Liberty — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) launched his candidacy from that same convocation stage back in March.
– Bernie Sanders may be running for the Democratic presidential nomination, but that didn't stop him from addressing a group of Christian conservative students today. Sanders appeared at Liberty University, the Virginia evangelical college founded by Jerry Falwell, the Hill reports. "A Southern evangelical university is an unlikely place for a socialist-leaning Jew from Brooklyn to spend his Rosh Hashanah, and yet that’s how Sen. Bernie Sanders is passing his high holiday Monday," MSNBC leads off its article, which also notes that the university calls for a "total rejection of socialism." How was he received by the audience of about 12,000? The Hill reports that a "small throng" of his supporters did a lot of cheering, and mostly there was a "muted" response. But when he called for fighting back against racism and finding common ground, he earned cheers from "a much wider group." He quoted some scripture, talked at length about economic inequality (to not many cheers, the Hill notes), and took questions after his speech. One of those had to do with abortion; USA Today reports that a university senior vice president "drew loud applause" when he asked about it, but that Sanders' response also drew applause: "Very often conservatives say, 'Get the government out of my life.' ... I respect absolutely a family that says, 'No, we are not going to have an abortion.' But I would hope that other people respect the very painful and difficult choice that many women feel they have to make and don’t want the government telling them what they have to do." The New York Times reports that Sanders mentioned that he's motivated by the Golden Rule and quoted Pope Francis, and notes that he was "greeted with polite, if tepid, applause" from students, while supporters who traveled from afar to attend were much more enthusiastic. The Washington Post has his full speech.