What Senator Bernie Sanders stood for is something that will no doubt, leave a lasting effect on this nation. When has America ever seen an election where the youth, the millennials, were so actively involved in politics, the campaign, and the election in general. There has even been a number of millennials who aren’t even eligible to vote but have become more participatory in this election compared with previous generations. Many of Bernie’s supporters happened to be younger voters. His campaign’s slogan, “A Future to Believe” resonated well with the youth as we are deeply concerned with the future because we are the future and what happens in the next four years affects us tremendously.
Bernie Sanders wanted to put forth what he called a “political revolution.” His campaign was so significant to the youth vote because he stood for what so many of them found important. For one, his plan to reform education was a big hitter for millennials as they are currently digging themselves deeper and deeper with college debt. Moreover he stood for women’s rights, he stood for LGBT rights, he stood for the justice for Black lives, he stood for anti-establishment, he stood for the protection of the environment. And not only did he stand for what many found to be morally acceptable, but he also is an honest man.
This is why it hurt a little of his supporters to find out he was not the nominated candidate for the Democratic Party. It was agreeable that many people who were Bernie supporters, like Hillary supporters, did not want Trump under any circumstances to become president. Bernie ended up endorsing Hillary Clinton in order to beat Trump. Hillary’s plan was to unify the divided Democratic Party, that was divided even more after the DNC scandal that arose. A lot of Bernie supporters were outraged. Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, tried to capture as many Bernie supporters as possible, calling herself “Plan B.”
There was a state representative from Maine who appeared at the Democratic National Convention, and I found her speech to be the most intimate and the only one that truly made me rethink my decisions and actually spoke to me, personally. Diane Russell, an avid Bernie supporter said: “You know, Dumbledore from Harry Potter once said, it takes great courage to stand up to your enemies. It takes even greater courage to stand up to your friends […] Obviously, we’ve had a real family disagreement over the role of superdelegates in our party’s nominating process. Working to get a president elected is supposed to be hard work, but we can definitely do more as a party to ensure a fairer, more open process that places everyday voters at the center…”
And she ended with a sentence that stuck with me: “Whether you support Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, we are all in this together and we will all have a voice in the Clinton administration.” And I have been thinking about this speech ever since. Russell, a big time Bernie supporter supports Hillary, and even Bernie himself supports her. Hillary and Bernie’s campaign seem to be trying to do everything in their power to unify the Democratic Party to not get Trump elected, and the unification seems to have worked since a lot of Bernie supporters claim to be voting for Hillary, but still support Bernie.
There is a political cartoon that is floating around the internet of a Bernie supporter saying “But Bernie, I thought you leading a political revolution?” and Bernie replies, “No I said YOU would lead the political revolution.” It’s up to Americans to seek the change they desire. Electing a president will not change America and make it perfect. We all have a voice, but the way in which we use it is what determines how much of an impact it makes.
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