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The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

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Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
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The Four Reasons America Needs Bernie Sanders

If you haven’t heard of Bernie Sanders then you’re not alone. Six months ago, few people outside of the most progressive political circles knew about the senator from Vermont. When he entered the presidential race, he was immediately dismissed by the mainstream media. America will never elect a self-proclaimed socialist with a Brooklyn accent who looks like Doc from “Back to the Future,” they said.

Yet here we are in September, and Sanders is leading Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire and rapidly gaining on her in Iowa. He has been traveling around the country, filling up convention centers and arenas, increasing his name recognition and appealing to a large demographic of young Democrats who are opposed to a Clinton dynasty.

His policy proposals, which include tuition-free college, raising taxes on the “one percent,” regulating Wall Street, raising the minimum wage and instituting single-payer healthcare are progressive and equally divisive. I’m not going to argue for or against any of these ideas, because most people are already pretty fixed in their opinion on “socialism.” What’s really great about Sanders is not what he’s saying, but how he’s saying it. His campaign is unlike anyone else running for president, and the things he does differently are things all Americans, Democrats and Republicans alike, should support.

 

1. He Doesn’t Accept Corporate Money

In recent years, presidential elections have become incredibly expensive. The common assumption has been that if you seriously want to win, you need to raise A LOT of money. For most candidates, this means setting up something called a super-PAC, which allows them to accept unlimited amounts of money from anyone — investment banks, multi-national corporations, oil companies, you name it. Alternatively, candidates will try to curry the favor of billionaires like the Koch Brothers or Sheldon Adelson. The result, according to many, is that our politicians now represent the interests of a few major donors, rather than their constituents.

Sanders, on the other hand, has not made a super-PAC and refuses to take money from corporations. Instead of schmoozing CEOs, he spends his time traveling around the country meeting with voters and talking about issues (and not just in the crucial early primary states). Who wouldn’t want a presidential candidate who is more focused on connecting with average Americans than with selling themselves to the rich and powerful?

 

2. He Doesn’t Attack Other Candidates

A lot of Americans are tired of the endless barrage of negative attack ads that come with each election season. It seems like all the candidates are more focused on convincing you why their opponent shouldn’t be elected than on convincing you why they should be elected. Elections often become a battle of personality and character, rather than ideas.

Well, Sanders has had enough of that. Countless times on the campaign trail, journalists and pundits have tried to bait him into criticizing Hillary Clinton. They want to get a sound-bite or a quote that will make a good headline. But Sanders doesn’t play their game. He tells them he’s not there to talk about Hillary Clinton. He’s there to talk about ideas that will help the average American. No matter your political leanings, THAT is refreshing.

 

3. He Focuses on the Issues

We have become accustomed as a nation to listening to politicians talk about issues in broad, general terms that don’t even mean anything. They talk about wanting to ‘help the middle class,’ or ‘grow the economy,’ without specifying how they’re going to do it. The debates especially are filled with these kinds of hollow talking points but rarely get down to the nitty-gritty of specific policy proposals.

What sets Sanders apart is that he loves serious and focused discussion about the issues. His campaign runs on specific ideas rather than generic slogans like ‘Make America Great Again!’ He wants all the candidates to have a serious discussion about the issues Americans care about. For example, he supports a movement to include a presidential debate that focuses entirely on the environment, a subject that is often neglected in the presidential race. He wants what all Americans want — for politicians to cut the BS and tell us their plan for helping America.

 

4. He’s Consistent

Sanders has not only been politically active his entire life, but he has remained ideologically consistent throughout that time. So many politicians are prone to flip-flopping on issues depending on who their audience is or how public opinion changes. But Sanders has been doing and saying the same thing for decades. He not only supports civil rights now, but he marched with the civil rights movement in the ‘60s. Whether you like Sanders’ ideas or not, you at least know what you’re getting. You know what he stands for and that he’s not going to change his stance just because it will help him win a few votes. That’s something that both liberals and conservatives should want in a candidate.

 

I don’t know if Bernie Sanders will be the next president or if he’ll even win the Democratic nomination. I don’t know if anything he is proposing would ever happen in America or if it would work. But I do know Sanders has an authenticity that seems to be missing from the rest of mainstream politics and that voters on both sides of the political spectrum deserve a range of candidates who represent the people, focus on the issues and remain ideologically consistent.

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