College Prep Writing
Current Event Analysis Paper
Bernie Sanders has a lot of people on his side, including independents, Democrats, women, LGBTs, millennials, and minorities. Bernie Sanders has been fighting for future generations and minorities since the 1960s. According to Bernie Sanders, “When we stand together, we will always win. When men and women stand together for justice, we win. When black, white and Hispanic people stand together for justice, we win. When straight and gay people stand together for justice, we win. When working families stand together, we win.” In the race for presidential office in 2016 three people are winning the race. For the Republican Party, it is Donald Trump. For the Democratic Party it is Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. I believe Bernie Sanders is the right presidential candidate for millennials and minorities.
Before we get started you need to know some things about Bernie Sanders. Most people do not even know who he is. The truth is, Bernie Sanders has been in the political view for a long time, he just has not been in the spotlight until now. According to Britannica School, Bernard Sanders was born September, 8 1941 and he is 74 years old. He was born to Jewish parents of Polish descent and was born and raised in Brooklyn. Bernie earned a Bachelor’s Degree in 1964 in Political Science from the University of Chicago. After he graduated, he began to become more engaged in activist movements such as the Civil Rights Movement and the 1963 March on Washington where he was in the crowds to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., give his “I Have A Dream”. His participation in the movements led him to go to Israel to live on a kibbutz (a working farm). While in Israel, he was inspired to “take care of the weak,” said Albert Ely, who was on the kibbutz with Sanders. Once Sanders returned to the United States, he started participating in more movements such as back-to-the-land (working as a union carpenter and freelance journalist) and the anti-Vietnam War movement. He ran as an independent candidate several times for Vermont governor, which he was unsuccessful at. In 1982, he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont. When Jesse Jackson was running for president, Sanders was one of only two to endorse him. In 1991, Sanders took office in the U.S. House of Representatives. When President Bush was in office, Bernie voted against the Iraq War. Bernie Sanders was made famous for his ideal tax cuts, for increasing taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, and for the increased aid for social welfare programs. In 2006, Sanders was elected as a United States Senator where he continued his campaign for tax reforms. In 1988 Sanders married his second wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders and has had a happy and stable marriage.They have four children (one biological son) and seven grandchildren. Sanders’ past has made him into a better candidate for the presidential office. He will put all his education, life experience, beliefs, and values into making this country a better country.
Ever since Bernie Sanders returned to the United States from Israel, he has been focusing on fighting for the rights of disadvantaged people such as disabilities, women, LGBT, and minorities. Feelthebern.org reveals the many rights he has been fighting for and one of his greatest efforts has been tackling the injustice against race. In the 1960s, he was an activist for the Civil Rights Movement. He also attended the 1963 March on Washington where, as mentioned earlier, he was in the crowds and heard the “I Have A Dream” speech. When Bernie was in college he was a leader of the Congress of Racial Equality. During his leadership he was arrested for protesting against segregation. Sanders believes justice for all races is important. He created a campaign video detailing how crucial it is to include people of all races so we can become as one.
Bernie’s fight in favor of equality for women is fought with the same passion as it is for African American and other minorities. His web page states that women are under attack from many people, are being denied control of their own bodies, medical and social services, and equal pay for equal work. Women’s’ rights are going backwards in history. If elected president, Sanders promises he will fight for pay equality, protect reproductive rights, make childcare available to all, increase the minimum wage and expand health care as well as social security.
Bernie Sanders supports all Americans including LGBT. When Sanders was first elected mayor, he supported the city’s first pride parade. According to Berniesanders.com, in 1993 when he was in the House of Representatives, he was against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and “Defense of Marriage Act” in 1996. He beat out the landmark decision which helped to recognize same-sex couples. As president, he promises that he will sign the Equality Act, Every Child Deserves a Family Act, and any other bill that bans discrimination against LGBT members. I believe if Bernie Sanders is elected president he will keep his promise and continue to act on his already established achievements. As you can see, he has already done many successful acts to fight against all discriminations. He will continue his fight to protect the people, especially those most at risk for inequality and social injustice.
The biggest age group of Sanders supporters are millennials (18-34). Although this might seem quite odd to other people, in reality it is not. Millennials are the largest generation in the US; we are the ones who most often get the message out into the world by texts and social media. Sanders is the oldest candidate in the presidential race. According to ViceNews.com, voter outcome of 18-24 year olds fell to an all time low of 19.9% in the midterm elections last year, which might make a problem for a presidential candidate.
Bernie Sanders managed to raise 1.5 million dollars in 24 hours alone, which may be the reason for young people being captivated by him. Millennials also may be captivated by him because he is consistent and has been from the start. CNN.com states that people are surprised by the number of young voters. Millennials feel Hillary Clinton can come off as too controlled and measured. Many people believe young people do not pay attention to politics, yet if you would ask them questions about the race or candidates they can answer with an educated answer.
One of the biggest reasons millennials support Sanders is that he wants to make free education available to all. Huffingtonpost.com reports student debt went up to 1.27 trillion dollars in 2015. Most people believe free education will never make it and it is just a dream. When Bernie was going to college, he had free college acknowledges that less wealthy countries provide free or reduced tuition to students. Sanders has vowed to make demands for millennials such as free college, income equality, speculation tax and legalization of marijuana a reality.
Bernie Sanders has two competitors. One Republican and one Democrat. His biggest competitor is Hillary Clinton, a democrat. According to theweek.com Clinton’s campaign is not about change but about going forward. Clinton’s economic plan is a mixture of improving education, aid for the lower and middle class, child care, financial regulation, raising taxes on the wealthy, and cutting taxes on the middle class. The biggest problem with Hillary Clinton is gaining the trust of the voting public. She was emailing North Korea, the smoking gun which could harm the lives of many Americans. Hillary would not hand over the emails to the FBI saying that it was “Her personal email”. Over the past two weeks she finally released over 1,300 emails to the FBI. Clinton can still run even though she is being prosecuted because she has not been proven guilty, yet.
Many LGBT people support Hillary Clinton, even though she has not always supported the LGBT community. The dailybeast.com reported that Hillary Clinton did not support gay marriage until 2013. Most of her LGBT supporters are women due to the fact that she is a women’s rights advocate.
Bernie Sanders’s other competitor is Donald Trump, a Republican. Donald Trump is one of the wealthiest people in America. According to thestreet.com, Trump is worth somewhere between 4.5-10 billion dollars. Donald Trump is looking forward to fixing the economy once he becomes president. Many people believe that Trump can fix the economy and taxes. Businessinsider.com fact checker says, his plan to change the tax brackets from the current seven to just four brackets, 0%, 10%, 20% and 25%, and will benefit the top tax brackets instead of the middle class. Those making more than $200,000 would pay less than $500 billion combined. He promises to not touch Medicare or Social Security. Donald Trump’s webpage donaldjtrump.com reports Trump’s Tax Plan will be paid for by taking away loopholes that are available to the very rich and a one time return of money from companies overseato name two. Most of his attention is towards immigration reform. He has imagined building a wall between Mexico and the United States, then deporting the 11 million undocumented immigrants back to their home country. Thestreet.com reported that the American Action Forum will cost $400 billion to $600 billion and will shrink the work force by 11 million.
I feel that Senator Bernie Sanders is the right candidate for democrats, republicans, women, men, disabled people, people of color, and LGBT members. He has been protecting everyone since he was in college. Yet his competition, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, have and will continue to do the opposite. They will harm people in the end, which is far different than what Bernie will do. As you can see, Senator Bernie Sanders has already done amazing things to make this country a better place. If Bernie Sanders gets elected, I promise he will make our home an even better country. I urge all millennials and minorities to protect their rights and privileges. They need to go and vote to make this country a better place. It only takes one voice to start a revolution, and your voice counts.
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