Indubitably one of the most controversial presidential candidates in modern history, though definitely not the most controversial — I think we all know to whom I am referring — Bernie Sanders has changed the political game for the foreseeable future. Whether or not he becomes our next president, or even receives the Democratic Nomination, he has undoubtedly revolutionized presidential campaigns in four main ways: target audience, fundraising, social platforms, and economic platforms.
So, come on supporters, skeptics, and yes, haters. Let’s examine the evidence:
Target Audience
Bernie Sanders, as a 74-year-old white man, has done something unprecedented in regards to his target audience. Despite older candidates typically catering their campaigns to older voters, Sanders has targeted the exact opposite age group. He has demonstrated his capacity to enrapture and inspire action within an age group often ignored during political campaigns: millennials. Millennials are often ignored due to low voter turnout. Even presidential campaigns which successfully inspired younger generations could not garner high voter turnouts — including President Obama’s campaigns. In 2008, the highest turnout for voters aged 18-29 was recorded, and it was a sad 52 percent. Compare that to voters above the age of 60, who routinely hit about 80 percent.
Sanders has certainly chosen a tough group of people to convince to join his side, and many people believe that despite strong support from millennials on social media, those same millennials will not turn up to vote. However, the 2000s have brought a drastic increase in voter turnout among 18 to 29-year-olds. The previously highest voter turnout for that age group was recorded in 2008, and it only dropped by about a percentage in 2012. Experts say this upward trend will continue in 2016, and because the millennial generation outnumbers Baby Boomers — and will continue to grow — millennials will no doubt have a large effect on the election. Millennial voters have the potential to choose the next president.
Other presidential candidates currently campaigning have tried to rally millennials because of their predicted impact on the upcoming election, but they have not succeeded. Hillary Clinton, specifically, has tried to encourage younger voters to support her campaign. She has had popular singers like Demi Lovato and comedians like Lena Dunham perform at her rallies, has joined Snapchat, and has made t-shirts exclaiming “Yaaas, Hillary!” Though many younger people appreciate these attempts to understand pop culture and appeal to a younger audience, other potential voters find Clinton’s attempts to be too much.
One of the reasons Bernie Sanders is so popular among 18 to 29-year-olds is because of his no-nonsense, straightforward speaking style. He does not include excessive fluff in his speeches, and he does not try too hard to appeal to a broader audience. Sanders lets his policies and ideas speak for themselves. Sanders also focuses on the content of his speeches and refuses to ‘dumb down’ his content. He assumes the people who attend his rallies know what is going on, unlike fellow candidates, like Donald Trump, who speak at a fourth grade level in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience. Millennials appreciate Sanders, who speaks at a 10th grade level, because he displays his confidence that his potential voters can comprehend issues like immigration and the economy, rather than assuming he needs to explain them.
Fundraising
Bernie Sanders does not like billionaires, Super PACs, or anything that comes with big money. Rather than being supported by multi-billion dollar companies and political action committees — like Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush — more than 76.5 percent of contributions made to Sanders’ campaigns were from individual donations of less than $200. Those donations come mainly from middle class families, which proves the effectiveness of the grassroots campaigning techniques implemented by the Sanders campaign. Sanders has spent most of the voter donations on online fundraising and hiring staff members — both important aspects of his grassroots campaign.
Compare the numbers of small donations and how the donations are being spent in Bernie Sanders’ campaign to those of other presidential hopefuls, and the results are sad. Jeb Bush’s campaign is largely — if not almost solely — funded by the Super PAC Right to Rise. By June 2015, Right to Rise had donated $103 million to Bush’s campaign. Hillary Clinton’s Super PACs, like Priorities USA Action, helped her raise $15 million by June 2015. Clinton’s campaign has spent the largest percentages of money on staff members and merchandise like bumper stickers, stamps, and t-shirts, while Donald Trump has spent the largest percentage of money on the traveling expenses associated with his private aircraft. Bernie Sanders, by the way, still flies coach out of respect for the money his supporters have donated to him.
Few other candidates — one of which is Donald Trump — have also spoken out against billionaires buying elections. However, considering Trump’s status as a billionaire, his statements are generally given less credit than Sanders’ fight against big money. Trump’s campaign is mostly funded by his own money with help from individual donations. This change came after he received criticism for utilizing the Super PAC Make America Great Again; his was called hypocritical, considering his admonishment of other Republican candidates for using Super PACs.
Social Platform
Though the contents of Bernie Sanders’ social platform are not particularly revolutionary in and of themselves, the way in which Sanders’ social platforms grow and change are certainly a deviation from typical political campaigns. Sanders wants to stop climate change, legalize marijuana, make public colleges free, support LGBTQIA+ individuals and women, increase rights for individuals with disabilities, and support veterans. These are very typical stances for Democratic candidates, and many of his opinions on these matters are similar to Hillary Clinton’s. What makes his social platform significant is its ability to grow and change based on the wants and needs of his potential supporters.
Throughout Sanders’ campaign, he has framed racial issues as economic problems rather than what they are: racial issues. This is, admittedly, one of his campaign’s biggest issues. However, after one of his rallies in Seattle was shut down by Black Lives Matter protesters, his campaign has grown to include more adamant protections and demands regarding racial justice. His campaign is not the most eloquent or knowledgeable on the topic of racial justice, but his social platform clearly listened to those protesters and other critics. Sanders has acknowledged that people have a right to be angry about the injustices occurring solely due to race, and has vowed to end the physical, political, legal, and economic violence against people of color. Sanders has proven his ability to listen to the people — a primary part of being an elected official in a representative democracy.
Economic Platform
Probably the biggest source of criticism Bernie Sanders receives from political opponents (and every other conservative quick to call liberals Communists) is his identification as a Democratic Socialist. Conservatives love to criticize Socialism, and tend to completely and purposefully ignore the whole first half of the title: Democratic. Democratic Socialism in itself is also not that radical of an ideological system; it basically says that societies both economically and socially should be run by the government. This idea is, of course, a direct contrast to Republican candidates, who want the government out of the economy and out of peoples’ personal lives.
Democratic Socialism is certainly not a movement to make Big Brother watch over us all, but it does, in essence, aim to create a larger presence of the federal government. This is in order to avoid big businesses and monopolies from taking over the economy. Democratic Socialism aims to protect the average person and allows those who are affected by an issue to be the people who make decisions about that issue. Furthermore, Democratic Socialist ideas and movements have proven to be beneficial in countries like Canada, Nicaragua, Sweden, France, and even the United States. Because of the widespread hate and fear of Socialism, a political candidate openly identifying as a Democratic Socialist, and still having such a strong following, is revolutionary. Not many political candidates would take such a chance.
This article is by no means an exhaustive list of Bernie Sanders’ good qualities or a plea to vote for him in the upcoming elections. It is simply an attempt to convince voters to analyze the strategies by which political candidates rally voters and gain votes. Whether Sanders does ‘win’ his campaign for president or not, he has still had a very successful campaign. We can only hope that future presidential hopefuls will follow his lead.
