When Bernie Sanders declared his bid for the presidency, young millennial voters rejoiced. Finally, there was a candidate who expressed a profound interest in the well-being of our nation's downtrodden and under-appreciated citizens. He contended that he had started a revolution, one that he thought would really begin to take hold after he won the presidency. Most unfortunately, Hillary and her cronies unfairly defeated him and pressed him to endorse her candidacy.
But, the revolution continues to live on with us millennials, many of whom are not inclined to shift their support to Hillary. Bernie has convinced us that the current system is crooked and gives preferential treatment to wealthy Americans. His forced exit from the race is no reason for us to give up and vote for Hillary, who has been proven to be part of the problem with her hidden alliance with Wall Street and affinity for the rich. Instead, we millennials should rally behind the Third-Party candidates. They truly have our backs and will help us continue the revolution that started with Bernie.
Neither Jill Stein nor Gary Johnson appear to have the capacity to win the presidency; but according to the respected political website Fivethirtyeight.com, they do have the ability to stop Trump and Hillary, the two most reviled candidates in recent memory. It's complicated but here's how it could happen.
Gary Johnson is currently polling at 24 percent in New Mexico, where he was governor. While his support lags the current polling for Hillary and Trump, he could win the state. Based upon the current estimates of how voting in the other 49 states will play out, a Johnson win in New Mexico would mean that no single candidate would have won the necessary 270 votes in the electoral college. The same scenario applies to the Independent candidate Evan McMullin, a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst and advisor to House Republicans. He is currently polling at thirty-three percent in his home state of Utah of voters under the age of thirty, compared with Hillary's twenty-seven and Trump's thirteen.
It is not terribly likely, but if McMullin wins Utah and Johnson wins New Mexico, the electoral college results will not decide the presidency. The Twelfth Amendment states that in such a circumstance, the House of Representatives will take up that role. The Republicans control the House and a lot of anti-Trump and anti-Hillary sentiment exists there. Therefore, the House Republicans might be very much inclined to choose Gary Johnson or Evan McMullin for the Presidency.
If you are feeling despondent about the inadequacies of the Republican and Democratic candidates, it gives you all the more reason to support the Third-Party candidates. With them, the revolution that started with Bernie Sanders and his millennial supporters would live on, although in different political ideas. But to all millennial voters in New Mexico and Utah, please consider supporting the Third-Partiers; let's make history!
