With the 2016 Florida Primary Elections coming up, I know there are a lot of you at a loss as to which candidate you should vote for, and which candidate best represents you and your interests. In my opinion, the best candidate for college students is Bernie Sanders.
Senator Sanders, at the age of 74, has become the unlikely symbol of hope for a millennial youth movement. His idealism and fervent passion for equality and a “Political Revolution” as he called it at the New Hampshire Democratic debate on February 4, has served as a call to arms to many, evident by the numerous websites and social media political pages made by students supporting him.
Sanders empathizes with the number one plight of college kids everywhere: debt. He sees the counter productiveness of inundating recent graduates with bills and proposes to make tuition completely free at public colleges and universities in the United States. He has also expressed outrage at the billions of dollars that the government profits from loans each year and plans on completely eradicating Uncle Sam’s profiteering off the backs of America’s students.
Many conservatives keep brushing these suggestions off as impossibility, asking how he proposes to pay for it. Simple: by imposing a speculation tax on Wall Street investors. Senator Sanders sees the financial disparity between the wealthy and average Americans as an injustice and seeks to lessen the gap by demanding that bankers and corporations pay their fair share of taxes, raising the federal minimum wage to $15, providing universal healthcare to all American citizens, and much more.
The other elements that appeal to America’s youth is his authenticity as well as his consistent political agenda. Sanders has had the same ideals and convictions since his first foray into politics: as a youth activist when he attended the University of Chicago. He was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). He also attended the march on Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King’s gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. In the 80’s, during his first term as mayor of Burlington, he signed a city ordinance banning housing discrimination. During his stint as congressman, Sanders voted against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 1993 and opposed the “Defense of Marriage Act” in 1996 and during this election, Sanders has adamantly refused to accept any contributions from any Super PACS (political action committee) to show that he won’t be influenced by any big money corporations.
What does this show us? That Sanders is a candidate we can count on. A candidate who won’t allow outside forces or agendas to get in the way of his quest to reform America. He has shown unshakeable support of issues of racial, LGBT and financial equality, even in the face of great opposition. He aims to represent the interests of a younger more progressive generation. In a country filled with smooth talking politicians who follow the money and constantly changing political agendas, Sanders is the breath of fresh air our disillusioned nation needs.
