As a high-school student, I can’t help but wonder what will happen to me once I graduate. Whoever becomes president in January 2017 will influence many people’s lives, including mine. President Obama will be soon leaving the Oval Office, and the United States will be led by one of the current Presidential candidates. Right now, the candidates on the Republican side are Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich, and the candidates on the Democratic side are Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
The Republican candidates are so radical that their own party leaders seem to be wary of them. There is clearly very limited support for them in a liberal town such as Ithaca. There is a huge amount of debate on the Democratic side about who will win because there are just two people left, so it’s one or the other. Both candidates have great ideas, but as high-school students, how do we evaluate their positions and policies, as well as what’s in it for us? Sanders appeals to our hearts while Hillary appeals to our brains, and it’s clear that the heart is just more likable. Although most of us cannot vote, the next president will make policy decisions that will have a profound impact on us.
Most Ithacans are “feeling the Bern” because Bernie Sanders represents a very liberal point of view that is in synch with a university town such as Ithaca. Sanders started his political career as a socialist and a civil-rights activist, believing that the government should play a key role in every aspect of the economy and that businesses have to be tightly monitored and regulated. He became the mayor of Burlington, the largest city in Vermont, where he championed many civil-rights issues such as low-cost community-trust housing, LGBT rights, and immigrant rights, which was considered very radical in those days. His ideas and policies at that time were considered too far left of the mainstream by many. As a mayor, Sanders’ catchy slogan was “Burlington is not for sale.” Sanders served the state of Vermont first in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate. He served as an Independent in Congress, though he supports the Democratic Party for the most part. Sanders supports social programs for the disadvantaged, campaign reform, and strict regulations on big banks. He’s a vocal critic of the U.S.’s foreign policy of intervention in the Middle East and Central America. At the same time, he has opposed gun control, since he represents a state with a lot of gun owners. He also opposes the favors and bailouts received by the big investment banks on Wall Street.
Hillary Clinton started her career as a pioneering lawyer advocating for impoverished families and children at the Children’s Defense Fund. After marrying Bill Clinton, she moved to Arkansas and helped her husband’s budding political career while becoming a partner at a reputed law firm, teaching law and continuing her advocacy of women’s and children’s rights. As her husband became Governor of Arkansas and then the President of the U.S., she became his trusted advisor, especially on the subject of health-care reform and women’s rights. As First Lady, Hillary became famous for her advocacy for women’s and children’s rights in the developing world. She was later elected to two terms as U.S. Senator from New York, where she demonstrated expertise on national security and foreign affairs. When she lost the 2008 Democratic Party nomination to Barack Obama, he selected her as his Secretary of State after becoming president. Hillary helped restructure U.S. foreign policy to ensure that disputes were addressed by diplomacy rather than just military solutions and that human rights returned to its central position in U.S. foreign policy.
The two Democratic contenders are clearly very similar on many points and way more progressive than their Republican counterparts. From a high schooler’s perspective, there are three main differences that seem to matter. The first is that Bernie Sanders’ main idea—one that he repeats before every speech—is that big businesses (i.e., Wall Street) have been buying influence in Washington D.C. and getting away with bad behavior that is wrecking our economy. Consequently, job opportunities for high-school graduates are limited. Sanders is saying that by streamlining the economy, high-school students will be able to get jobs and the economy will improve overall. Hillary has a much less aggressive stance with regards to business and prefers to negotiate with businesses rather than pass very restrictive laws that could potentially slow down the economy. Sanders wants to make public college education free and lower high college bills, which is very attractive to all high schoolers worried about college loans and debts. Sanders wants to radically change the current healthcare system to a single-payer system, which would lead to universal healthcare. On the other hand, Hillary wants to continue improving President Obama’s education and health policies and points out that Sanders’ policies would require taxes to rise steeply to pay for all the free benefits—a proposal Congress would likely reject. Hillary’s approach seems too cautious to lead to easy and reliable healthcare for all. Sanders is also more concerned about the global climate, while Hillary has barely touched on the subject. Sanders’ advocacy for our planet is extremely attractive to those of us who will be around for another 70 years.
Bernie Sanders’ positions on education, health care, economy, and the environment are definitely very progressive and attractive to any high schoolers who are looking to college and beyond, so he is clearly appealing to our hearts with his passionate advocacy. Hillary Clinton, with her vast experience in Congress and the Executive Branch, is very practical; she also claims that Sanders’ huge promises will fail badly and disappoint a lot of people who will get stuck with large college and medical bills. She wants to improve what we already have rather than go for a high-risk revolution, so she is definitely aiming for our heads. Though Hillary’s sangfroid is admirable, high schoolers, who tend to be socially liberal and interested in progressive policies, appreciate Sanders more than Hillary. It’s fair to say that high schoolers truly “feel the Bern’’ in their hearts.