At a campaign stop in New Hampshire last week, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said: “something happened on the way to [Hilary’s] coronation. It was me.” Sanders was right because he has been setting records for attendance at his rallies around the country, but has set even more impressive records through his fundraising. At the end of this past June (2015), reports from the campaign contribution website ActBlue indicated that Sanders had raised more money than any Republican presidential hopeful, and more money than any Democrat except Hilary Clinton. What is even more remarkable is that this historic amount of money is coming from a large pool of donors. The thousands of individual contributions have totaled over eight million dollars, which is more than any Republican raised in the last election cycle (except Mitt Romney).
Sanders has cut a tremendous swathe across the campaign landscape - particularly among young people. His popularity among college students is largely due to his stance on reforming college tuition payments. In May of this year, Sanders introduced the “College for All Act” which proposed the Federal Government to cover two thirds of tuition costs at four-year colleges and universities, a figure that amounts to $47 billion dollars a year. These funds are to come in the form of federal grants. The Act further stipulates that in order to qualify and receive these grants, states must adhere to certain standards designed to improve the quality of education they provide. Among these requirements, universities must increase or maintain their spending on students each year.
Sanders said in a Reddit AMA that: “People in general and young people in particular are increasingly alienated and disillusioned with the political process. The middle class is disappearing, the rich get richer, young people cannot afford college, the crisis of climate change is ignored, and Congress continues on its merry way paying attention to the needs of billionaires and multinational corporations.”
Indeed, Sanders has campaigned heavily on the promise of introducing a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision, and has promised that any nominee his administration makes to the Supreme Court will be “committed to overturning the disastrous citizens united decision.” The Citizens United decision allows the absurd financial playing field to keep rising. If a single entity - the Koch brothers - can spend nearly $900 million on an election, how can any one entity incapable of spending that ludicrous figure ensure their voice is heard in the political process? How can a democracy of, by and for the people exist, if some people have their interests defeated simply because they cannot afford the price tag on politics?
These questions have proved tough for many candidates to answer in the past. Whether Bernie Sanders actually has the answers, questions will no longer be questions over the course of the next several months. I will say though, he’s certainly won me over.
