Viewpoint: Bernie Sanders perfect fit for Millennials

Thomas Dowling | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

With five announced Democrats and 14 announced Republicans gunning for the White House, the 2016 presidential race is looking thicker by the minute. But just as the public’s attention turns to the campaign, candidate attention will be turning to you. As the largest voting demographic, candidates will be working very hard to tailor an appealing message to Millennials.

According to the Panetta Institute of Public Policy and the Pew Research Center, it appears Millennials will be looking at four major policy areas come 2016: independence from the Washington establishment, support for climate change mitigation policies, job creation and student debt reform. The candidate siding on the right side of all of these issues will very likely win the Millennial vote. That candidate appears to be Bernie Sanders.

Issue one: Independence from the Washington establishment

It is no secret that Americans are frustrated with today’s politicians. As a result, Millennials have become far less attached to the U.S.’s two-party system. A 2015 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showed just that, finding 51% of Millennial voters identify as independents.

Many politicians have taken advantage of that shift in focus. Clinton, Christie and Webb have all decried the partisan gridlock and claimed that they would put an end to it . Sen. Rand Paul even wrote a book on the subject.

While these claims are all well and good, none of the candidates share Sanders’ independent track record. Although running as a Democrat, Sanders has been the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history. According to the Congressional Quarterly, Sanders has consistently managed to “bridge Washington’s toxic partisan divide" and his independence has shaped his leadership thus far.

Issue two: Support for climate change mitigation policies

In April 2015, a poll conducted by the Harvard Institute of Politics revealed that 75% of Millennials believe in climate change, with a slim majority — 55% — stating that it is human-caused. Perhaps even more significantly, an older Pew study from 2011 reported 71% of Millennials agreed that government should “whatever it takes to protect the environment.” It is clear that college students understand the threat climate change poses and are ready for the government to take action.

Sanders is the clear winner in this category. The League of Conservation Voters, a non-profit organization that ranks politicians' eco-friendliness based on their legislative history, gave Sanders a lifetime score of 95%, the highest among his colleagues in the Senate.

Issue three: Job creating ability

College students and recent graduates were hit the hardest after 2008’s economic downturn and, according to Generation Opportunity, a conservative nonprofit that advocates for Millennials, nearly 14% of recent graduates are still unemployed. Unemployed at nearly three times the rate of the rest of the labor market, it is no wonder Millennials are worried about their economic prospects.



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You would be better off rolling dice than correctly predicting the success of a future presidential economic program, but it is clear that Sanders’ economic policy is closely in line with what Millennials want. College students supporting strong government intervention in markets edge out non-interventionists, coming in at 54%, according to a 2012 survey by the Panetta Institute of Public Policy.

This eliminates the entire Republican field, leaving only Democrats. Their policies vary along the economic spectrum, but there is a fundamental question separating Sanders from the rest. If students believe that the growth of the middle class is more important than the growth of corporatism, then Sanders is their man.

Issue four: Student debt reform

Along with their diploma, almost every college student is looking forward to crushing debt. The Wall Street Journal recently reported the average debt of a 2015 college graduate is over $35,000. Students may be paying these loans until their late 30s and are looking to presidential hopefuls for relief.



RELATED: Bernie Sanders issues bill to make 4-year colleges tuition-free

Their best chance for serious change appears to be Sanders. Sanders has no qualms about unmasking what many view as a revolutionary change in the American higher education model. Time and time again, he has campaigned to “make college tuition in public universities and public colleges free.” For those who already are struggling to pay back loans, Sanders stated in his 2015 University of Iowa speech that “today’s borrowers should be able to refinance their student loans at much lower interest rates.”

Only O'Malley matches Sanders' plan to make college free. Like Sanders, O'Malley would tax financial transactions to pay for increased governmental expenditure on college costs, but his plan falls short of Sanders' scope. For example, the plan he proposed would not cover the tuition of those who attends out-of-state public institutions. Sanders' plan appears to lack such restrictions.

Other Democratic candidates like Clinton have pledged to lower interest rates and some Republicans promise for-profit colleges, but none give terms as favorable as Sanders.

Although he has made waves in the race, many pundits have been unwilling to put money on a Sanders win. But his pro-Millennial stances might give him a chance at tapping the biggest potential source of support: the youth vote.





Thomas Dowling is a member of the USA TODAY College contributor network

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