Adam Duvernay

The News Journal

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's campaign was initially viewed as a coronation rather than a electoral contest.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' popularity with young voters turned his underdog campaign into a serious contender.

Delaware’s presidential primary is April 26, and on the line for Democratic candidates are 31 delegates.

America's youngest voters don’t want to just leave the kids’ table: they want to choose the main course.

Young Democrats in Delaware, like their counterparts nationwide, are lining up behind the far-left ideals of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — free college education for all, upending the "corrupt" political process fueled with unlimited donations from America's wealthiest families and bringing equilibrium to the "rigged" economy choreographed by Wall Street.

“Sanders is the candidate in this race presenting a comprehensive vision for changing the status quo," said Kyle Offenbecher, a winter graduate of the University of Delaware. "A lot of people look at Hillary Clinton and see someone who is competent. She certainly has a lot of experience, but you don’t really see her as someone who is going to dramatically change the situation.

"The truth is, a lot of college students, a lot of people who are my age, are just very dissatisfied. People do want something that’s more radical.”

Daniel Schlozman, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, said the Sanders campaign will change the Democratic Party. While more moderate Democrats may win state and federal contests this election cycle, the party's next wave will lean much farther to the left, said Scholzman, author of "When Movements Anchor Parties: Electoral Alignments in American History."

Sanders may be a “flawed messenger” because he’s old, white and cranky, Schlozmansaid. But he believes the Vermont senator will to be a transitional figure in American politics.

“The future of the Democratic party is the Sanders message and coalition,” Schlozman said. “All these 20-somethings are going to be the party for a long time.”

Former Secretary of State Clinton's campaign, with a deep bench of volunteers and staff nationwide, was initially viewed as a coronation rather than a electoral contest. But Sanders' popularity among young voters – he won more than 83 percent young Democratic voters in Iowa and New Hampshire – turned his underdog campaign into a serious contender.

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Sanders barely lost the Iowa caucuses, and he trounced Clinton in New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire win brought more than delegates: his campaign raised more than $5.2 million in the 18 hours after polls closed, using an average donation of $34 to raise more money than in any previous single day.

He now has momentum going into the Nevada caucuses Saturday, although Clinton is expected to win the Feb. 27 primary in South Carolina, which has a large African American population. But she is scrambling to regain her front-runner status.

Rebecca Powers, who built and organized the Facebook page "Delaware for Bernie," said the senator's ideals are foundational planks for the new Democratic Party. And like other young Democrats nationwide, she sees his candidacy as an avenue to make her voice heard for decades to come.

“I feel like it's my party, and I therefore feel I have the ability to encourage changes,” said Powers, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor of Newark in 2013. “I’ve seen a great diversity of people in general, but I’m also seeing the biggest number of young people I’ve ever seen."

Change desired on both sides

Young Republicans also want the 2016 election cycle to yield reformist ideals in the Grand Old Party's platforms.

Rob Keesler, chair of the New Castle Young Republicans, believes it’s time millennials decide what breed of political animals they want to be moving forward – and should plant their flag in the party's plank now.

Party leaders have "given us a seat at the table,” Keesler said. “Republicans are now determining what their next generation of ideology is going to be. It’s a very different feeling than 2012.”

Kessler, 27, considers himself fiscally conservative and socially tolerant. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Fourth District seat in Delaware House in 2014, losing to Democrat Gerald Brady. His favorite GOP candidate for president was Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who dropped out of the race after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses.

“This is a really exciting time,” Kessler said. “Libertarians now have more respect, and in Delaware, it’s always been moderate voters. I’m not convinced this is a blue state. I think it’s a purple state at best.”

Keesler adamantly opposes Sanders' socialist positions, but he does admire the way young Democrats are using the Vermont senator's positions to turn the Democratic Party.

"I like how Bernie Sanders supporters are approaching their party," Keesler said. " They’re openly advocating for an ideology, even if it is socialism.”

Winning everyone

Delaware’s presidential primary is April 26, and on the line for Democratic candidates are 31 delegates. Neither Hillary Clinton nor Bernie Sanders have established official campaigns here yet, but both sides are angling for young voters.

The winner must appeal to African American voters.

“Bernie Sanders, in that 18-30 age group, is going to do very well, and also do very well with better educated African Americans,” said Delaware University political science professor Theodore Davis, who specializes in racial politics. “Blacks aren’t as monolithic as they appear.”

The Black Lives Matter movement, the death penalty, mass incarceration, distrust in police and the justice system are some of the issues where Sanders is stronger than Clinton, Davis said. And those issues matter to young blacks.

While support for the Democratic Party among black voters is softening nationwide, Davis said, those voters don’t feel there’s anywhere else to go. Young voters want less of what’s in place now.

Aleah Jones is the 20-year-old vice president of the Delaware State University College Democrats, and she’s a Sanders supporter. She likes his take-no-prisoners attitude, his hard talk and his radical vision. He’s the only candidate she believes when it comes to racial and social justice.

“He’s fearless in the way he attacks these issues,” she said. “He’s not trying to be politically correct.”

Jones is a progressive, but also something of a realist. She knows young people are historically more radical in their views than the generation before them, and she knows those ideals sometimes fade when they come face to face with reality.

“My hope is this does bring about a revolutionary kind of change to the way politics takes place on the federal level,” Jones said. “But I can’t say this is going to change things.”

She wouldn’t vote for Clinton just because she’s a woman, just like she said she wouldn’t vote for a candidate just because she’s black. She’ll vote for Clinton if she gets the nomination, but the candidate doesn’t speak to her the way Sanders does.

Party lines

Offenbecher, who has held many positions in the UD College Democrats, said he didn't want to muddy the waters of a strong group by pushing for one candidate over another.

“The College Democrats, we like to think of ourselves as an organization that works together, and we have some real divisions between Clinton supporters and Bernie supporters. We wanted to keep College Democrats essentially united to go up against the Republicans,” Offenbecher said. “We decided to found a separate organization that wouldn’t work against College Democrats, but that could be complimentary to it with different goals and advocate more forcefully for one particular candidate.”

That's how Blue Hens for Bernie was born, he said.

At least two of the UD College Democrats spent time in New Hampshire campaigning for Clinton in the key primary vote there. Some have joined John Fetterman’s campaign for the Pennsylvania Senate race just because he’s endorsed Sanders. By the end of the semester, Offenbecher said, the club will endorse one candidate or the other.

“We both will be satisfied with them as president, it’s just a matter of whose policies we like better,” said club President Hirak Mukhopadhyay. “People who are more centrist on economic policy, more centrist on foreign policy are going for Hillary Clinton. People who are more isolationist on foreign policy, more in favor of regulation are supporting Sanders. When it comes to the general matters, such as taking on terrorism, climate, LGBT rights, they’re much more similar than people may portray them.”

That’s why the debate within the club has focused on electability Mukhopadhyay said. Some members – even some Sanders supporters – think Clinton has broader national appeal and could more easily beat the eventual Republican candidate.

“No one really disagrees with Bernie’s policies. It is a matter of electability. People have reservations about Bernie Sanders. He may be too left, he may be too much of the European model for the United States,” Mukhopadhyay said. “As appealing as some of the policies are, they may just not work whereas Hillary has some skills across the aisle.”

But it’s not enough for Sanders’ supporters to just put any Democrat in the White House, Offenbecher said.

"People I know, they've donated to him, they've volunteered. It's gone well beyond saying something on Facebook about it," Offenbecher said. "These very enthusiastic people are coming together for it because they want something more radical. They want something to believe in."

Young Republicans are equally as passionate.

Jordan Nally is proud to be in the GOP. But he will not vote for a candidate just because there's an R by his or her name. Several GOP candidates still standing in the presidential race would not get Nally's support.

He considers himself a libertarian –– if that means he deplores tax-and-spend policies and rejects prejudicial language and action. He likes Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. He’s 25, gay and a Republican Party activist in Delaware.

“I wish there was someone up there right now who could go up and represent what Millennials really feel,” Nally said. “I’d hate to have to wait another four or eight years.”

When a candidate invites supporters to speak messages against inclusiveness of the LGBT community, that turns Nally and some of his peers away. Same thing when Donald Trump proposed disallowing immigration for Muslims.

“As a party, do you really want to get behind someone who wants to ban a whole group of people based on religion?" Nally asked. "If they would be more accepting of equality for all, if they would put that in the platform, the Republican Party would open the doors and get so many more young people.”

Contact Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2785​.

Attention now turns to Nevada caucus showdown

Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorses Hillary Clinton before South Carolina primary

2 candidates, two efforts to catch youth vote

"I accept the fact that I have work to do to convey what I stand for, what I've accomplished, what I want to do for young people in the country. ... They don't have to be for me, I'm going to be for them. It doesn't really matter if they are not supporting me, I will be their president."

— Hillary Clinton, following the New Hampshire primary, in which she lost voters under 30 to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by 70 points

"It is a political revolution that will bring tens of millions of our people together. It will bring together working people who have given up on the political process. It will bring together young people who have never participated in the political process. It will bring together blacks, and whites, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, straight and gay, male and female. People who were born in America, and people who immigrated here."

— Sanders, in his victory speech following the primary Feb. 9.

Voices from University of Delaware

Hope Angeloni, 20

DU, Marine Biology; from New York

“The only thing I really know about Bernie Sanders is he wants to provide a free college education. I don’t know how he’s going to do that, based on the deficit. How will he provide high-end education for people if it’s all going to be free?”

Garrett Lacurts, 18

DU, Electrical Engineering; from Delaware

“I’m more of a Democrat, probably Bernie Sanders. So far he seems like the most honest and the least corrupt. He doesn’t take money from the big bankers or anything like that. [Hillary Clinton] just seems like she’s using politics for her personal gain, and he seems like he’s trying to help everyone else, instead.”

Emily Shea, 20

DU, Fashion Merchandising; from New Jersey

“Both could bring great things if they were the Democratic nominee … Bernie is very relatable to younger folk. That’s what he’s been advertising. He would work with people in college more, to get to college and pay off those loans. Hillary, she has a lot of experience and is about the whole women empowerment thing. I’m just a little concerned people are focusing more on that than the real issues.”

Evan Ferguson, 23

DU, Civil Engineering; from Delaware

“Right now, I’m pulling a little bit more for Bernie Sanders than Hillary Clinton. I like that he’s an Independent, he’s been vocal about things I think are important, like taxes. The rich and wealthy do have it too easy. Wall Street doesn’t have enough control. The only downside to that is I don’t think he’s had a concrete plan on how to apply policies and reform.”

Dorian DeShields, 23

DU, Management Information Systems; Delaware

“My friends are talking about Bernie Sanders because he seems to be more in tune with what’s going on right now as far as young people’s concerns. Black Lives Matter, our relationships in foreign policy, that’s what a lot of my peers are talking about. Neither of them have really said anything to me, outright, what they’d do to make situations better with police brutality and things like that.”