By MaCayla Jablonski, Staff Reporter.
When Bernie Sanders first announced his run for president, many thought he didn’t have a chance. However, after Sanders won Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, people who underestimated the youth vote are now biting their tongue. Young people all over America have stepped out into the world of politics thanks to this strange, yet interesting, presidential election. According to The New York Times’ article, “Young Voters, Motivated Again,” the youth’s biggest beneficiary by far, is Sanders.
In August 2015, Tri-City locals Cindy Levasseur, Pat Race and Mary Herr created Bay County for Bernie, a grassroots group focused on the Bay City effort to get Sanders the Democratic Party nomination, and eventually, the U.S. presidency.
Herr and Levasseur say they have noticed the unusually high number of youth voters and participants not only in Bay County, but all over the country.
“I think [Sanders] speaks to a lot of younger people who are disenfranchised, or will be, because of the student loan disgrace. It’s slowing down the economy. People can’t buy a house because they’re paying $800 or so a month in student loans,” says Herr.
Herr thinks Sanders is “just an honest person and that resonates with a lot of people that are looking for a beacon of hope among all the sleazy politicians.”
Levasseur adds, “He fights for free college tuition, climate change, health care… things that affect [millennials] more than they affect us,” says Levasseur.
19-year-old Delta student Richard Diehl III has been personally campaigning for Sanders and volunteering with Bay County for Bernie for the past five months. Diehl III is mostly involved in door-to-door campaigning.
Diehl III says young people are stepping into the world of politics now because they’re excited for the potential impacts that Sanders’ stances would have on them, and the rest of the youth in America.
According to The Atlantic’s article, “The Political Revolution of the Millennial Generation,” this will be the first presidential election in which millennials make up the same proportion of U.S. voters as baby boomers do.
“Bernie really resonates with younger people,” says Diehl III. “Aside from his obvious free college stance, people favor him because part of being president is being compassionate. You have to care about people, not just the people that vote for you, but the population as a whole, which is why he’s the complete opposite of Donald Trump. [Trump] is unfiltered, he doesn’t care about minorities, the LGBTQ community or about women. So it’s scary for a lot of people. What could happen in a world where Trump is president?”
20-year-old SVSU student Brandon Errer has been campaigning for Sanders for three months. Errer says he started full-on campaigning for Sanders when he received a phone call from the Saginaw office asking for volunteers.
“I started on Facebook, sharing information and posting about Bernie,” says Errer. “And then three weeks before [Michigan’s] primary I was going door to door, working with people on campus and phone banking.”
Sanders and his stances, Errer believes, are responsible for the recent spike in youth showing interest in politics.
“[Sanders] brings out college students because he’s fighting for free college,” says Errer. “He cares and relates to the youth in this country, even though he is a little old man. He’s lived through what most of the other candidates, and even representatives, have not.”
Errer has always been interested in politics. “When I was super young, like 7 years old, I got so into the Green Party,” Errer shares. “Then… probably around middle school, I was fighting for the Republicans. When I entered high school, though, that’s when I went full-swing Progressive Democrat, and I never went back.”
Errer credits his friends in high school for keeping him involved in politics. He’s now studying public administration.
“I’ve always been around those affiliated with politics because of my major, but my friends and I are all noticing the recent amount of youth stepping out and getting involved with the election,” says Errer.
He’s noticed that people who have never taken part in the primaries are voting now. “It’s incredible to watch.”
Errer says the local Sanders’ headquarters has made participating in the campaign easy. “I mean, seriously, do phone-banking. You can do it while sitting at home in your P.J.’s.”
Different votes for different folks
By Abigail Beckman, Staff Reporter.
Sanders, however, isn’t the only presidential candidate young people are rallying behind.
Sanders and Hillary Clinton have been neck-and-neck for the Democratic Party nomination, and businessman Donald Trump is leading the Republican Party against opponents Ted Cruz and John Kasich.
Joseph Jarbou, 19-year-old Delta student and Donald Trump supporter, opens up about his support for the businessman.
“The thing I like the most is that he is very straightforward, and I think a lot of people would say the same thing. He is a great businessman and a smart person. With how the United States is doing right now, we need a business leader to be in office to help us get out of this debt,” says Jarbou.
Jarbou’s family has not only supported Trump throughout his election, but has donated over $3,000 to Trump’s campaign. His family is full of business owners, which makes it easier for Jarbou to relate to Trump. Jarbou also believes that a lot of Trump supporters are a part of the younger demographic just like him.
“The younger generation is more likely to vote for Trump simply because my generation loves money and power, and Trump has both of them,” says Jarbou.
Michaela Zielinski is an 18-year-old Hillary Clinton supporter from Birch Run. She says that in her circle of friends she’s the only one supporting Clinton. Zielinski says Clinton has many traits that make her qualified to become president, such as serving as the First Lady, serving as the U.S. Secretary of State and being named one of the most powerful lawyers in America by the National Law Journal.
Zielinski says “Hillary has made it her life’s mission to ensure the world knows one simple thing: that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights.”
