Last week President Obama delivered his final State of the Union speech, and if we’re lucky, Bernie Sanders will be delivering the next one. As the underdog of the race, the Brooklyn native is finally getting news coverage for his leads over Hillary Clinton, marking a pivotal point in his campaign. But what exactly is it that makes this grumpy white-haired man so likable? What makes him favorable over the leading lady of politics? To answer these questions, we have to truly understand who he is and what he believes in.
Bernie Sanders was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1941. In 1964, Sanders graduated from the University of Chicago. Quite notably, a year before his graduation, Sanders marched alongside Civil Rights supporters in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Following his graduation, he moved to Vermont where, after a few years, he was elected Mayor of the city of Burlington. His title changed from Mayor, to Representative, to finally, the Junior Senator of Vermont. Now as he stands as a Democratic candidate, Sanders is the needle in a haystack of corruption. While other candidates adhere to Big Corporations, and rely on their money to fund their campaigns, 97% of Sanders' funding comes from individual contributions. With only about one percent of Sanders' campaign being funded by Super Pac corporations, it is clear he represents the views of every American, not just the billionaires.
As a personable candidate, Sanders adheres to the requests of the average citizen. During his campaign, his fight has been focused on fixing the middle class and closing the gap between the excessively rich and the rest of America. This is something many candidates, in previous years, have claimed to want to change, but Sanders has proven to be serious about. He's often outspoken about making the rich pay their fair share of taxes. As a true activist, Sanders isn’t scared to stand up to the wealthy because he has nothing to lose. Too many candidates talk about bridging the gap. But when it comes down to it, they fear losing the funding from their wealthy upper class contributors. As someone who won’t bow down at the sign of wealth, Sanders is clearly the exception we’ve been waiting for.
Along with bridging the financial gap, Sanders has focused some of his campaign around the issue of paying for college. As President, Sanders plans on making public colleges and universities free for all students. As a college student who attends a public university, it would ease the fear of graduation if I knew that I didn’t have loans waiting for me on the other side. These student loans, which have recently accumulated to 1.2 trillion dollars of debt, are given to students knowing that when they graduate, the job market may not be so welcoming. By trapping students in debt, it only ensures that once they graduate, financial stability will be that much harder to achieve. As someone who probably won’t benefit from these proposed changes, I definitely want to see a generation that will.
Sanders’ long track of honesty has landed him as an activist for Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, and LGBT rights. Sanders has also never denied climate change (as many candidates have and continue to do so) and is pushing for a change to our electric and transportation infrastructure.
On the issue of flip-flopping, Sanders isn’t present. The issues he supports and believes in have been dear to him for years prior to his run for the Presidency. It’s clear that he's a man who believes in social change, not an agenda that favors private corporations or the wealthy.
Many people claim to dislike Sanders because of his foreign policy, which basically states that war is the last option. But when looked at closely, his policy isn’t all that bad. He believes in the use of force in instances where sanctions and diplomatic actions don’t achieve the necessary changes. His track record shows he has voted for the use of force in times when it was the only clear solution, and voted against it when it wasn’t.
Bernie Sanders may seem like someone who wants peace and love amongst all countries, and although he does, he is also someone who will go far to defend the country he represents. Unlike some other candidates who propose endless war and bombings, Sanders has concrete plans on how the United States can help aide the end of violence and war, in troubled areas. Most importantly, though, Sanders believes that America should not work alone to fix these problems. Instead, he believes we should focus on being part of a team.
Bernie Sanders believes in many issues, and these few that I mentioned just scratch the surface on the amount of good he can achieve. Throughout it all, Sanders is the one candidate who is fighting for you and me. He isn’t fighting for the wealthy, or the businesses, or the racist, sexist, hate-filled public. He’s fighting for the real American. He truly wants to bring change to our country, and end the bigotry and corruption.
It's time we stop choosing between the lesser of two evils. It’s time we stop reposting the crazy hate-filled things the latest Republican candidate has chosen to say. And it’s time we stop dividing ourselves by race, class, or gender when choosing who will lead the country that represents us all. It’s time we unite and choose a President who carries the ideals of the average citizen, and the desire to change the way future generations will live.
