Bernie Sanders, the 75-year-old senator from Vermont, ran in the 2016 election cycle as a Democratic candidate, despite his long history as an independent with socialistic values. Of course, Hillary Clinton was named the Democratic nominee.
Sanders’s progressive values initially struck a chord with America’s younger population who were “feeling the bern,” a phrase that eventually became Sanders’ official campaign slogan.
Sanders’s call to increase the minimum wage, make health care affordable and available, clean up the environment and eliminate student debt (or tuition in general) appealed strongly to the rapidly growing number of millennial voters.
Asked why she likes Sanders, Crystal Stout, 20, a journalism major at Bucks, said “he is looking out for future generations and the needs of the millennials as opposed to what will benefit his generation.”
Despite his immense popularity early in the race, much like a candle’s wick, Sanders’ prominence began to fade. His name was lost in the noise of coverage of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Clinton was named the Democratic party’s candidate at the Democratic National Convention this past July, though there has been speculation into the fairness of how equally the candidates were represented by former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Sanders used his pull with youthful voters to become an advisor to Clinton, reasoning, “we must defeat Donald Trump.”
The highly progressive senator has made his strongly critical opinion of the Republican nominee clear throughout the election cycle, and began encouraging his supporters to endorse Clinton.
Sanders’ candidacy may not have been as successful as many of his supporters had hoped, but his highly progressive agendas may be a continuing trend among millennials into the next election cycle. The response to his leftist agenda may mean a third party candidate will be more likely to succeed in the years to come.
The four-term mayor of Vermont’s most densely populated city, Burlington, Sander’s relatability to millennials may come from his time lecturing at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Hamilton College, N.Y., or his humble roots.
Sanders and his older brother, Larry, were raised in a Brooklyn apartment by their Polish immigrant parents, Eli and Dorothy Sanders. Eli Sanders was a high school dropout and worked as a paint salesman.
After attending James Madison High School and Brooklyn College, Sanders graduated from University of Chicago in 1964.
Sanders’ time as mayor of Burlington not only helped him secure his seat in the House of Representatives, where he would continue to serve for 19 years and earn the title of longest serving Independent senator; but showed his ability to separate personal agenda from policy.
A self-proclaimed socialist, Sanders advocated using the redistribution of wealth to address the country’s declining prosperity, yet faced off with protesters when they threatened productivity.
In a speech delivered two days after Clinton was named the Democratic presidential nominee, as well as in fairly recent interviews with Democracy Now, ABC News, and NBC News, Sanders has pledged to continue in politics and further devote himself to revolutionizing the Democratic Party.