A knowledgeable professor told my Pol 251 class with an arrogant certainty that Hillary Clinton would be the 45th President of the United States.
His matter-of-factness nauseated my rightwing classmates, and it surely has droned in their ears for the past 12 months.
Now the sprint towards November 2016 is underway. Following her 2008 shortfall, Clinton is well prepared, and with calculated strides and remarkably well-funded speed, she is moving towards the Democratic nomination.
One ominous question is yet to be answered: can Hillary Clinton convince the working class that she is their desperately-needed warrior? Her hint of elitism and the lingering untrustworthiness of her name make it a difficult sell, and it seems that an increasing number of voters cannot buy it.
Enter Bernie Sanders. Of humble upbringing and a modest income, he is as an advocate for labor organization and accessible healthcare and education, making him a strong case for representing the 99 percent.
At first, Bernie’s presence did not worry the Clinton campaign. But in September 2015, Hillary no longer feels the cushion of a big lead, franticly glancing back at the approaching challenger.
Fueled by small donations by over 200,000 contributors, Sanders is gaining momentum and is showing no signs of slowing down. With victorious grabs of Iowa and New Hampshire, he challenges the role of cash in politics. This is the big story of the Bernie campaign: “Paid for by Bernie 2016 (not the billionaires).”
The campaign operates in a way diametrically opposed to Citizens United. When Bernie Sanders says he will fight the controversial court ruling, I believe him. Can we trust Hillary Clinton to as well?
Of course, she’s taken a stance against Citizens United, but according to a New York Times report, Super PACs have given her campaign $20 million, about a third of her total funds, while Sanders’ campaign is worth a total $15 million, not a dime of which came from beyond personal fundraising. In fact, he is open about his refusal to accept such contributions.
Can we trust Hillary Clinton to reign in the 1 percent and to bring accountability to American capitalism?
Americans love accountability. You can’t vote without an ID; you can’t get welfare without a drug test. Elect Bernie Sanders and you can’t make billions of dollars without adequately paying your employees, without giving those employees reasonable maternity leave and without paying your fair share of taxes.
Sure, Clinton makes evident her stance on these issues; her rhetoric contains strong words regarding economic progressivism- a stable economy requires a “toppling” of the wealthiest 1 percent. It has an aggressive undertone similar to that of the Sanders campaign. It just comes down to whether or not voters believe she will follow through.
In July, a Quinnipiac University Poll that focused on Colorado, Iowa and Virginia voters gave a look into Clinton’s standing with the electorate: 62 percent of Colorado voters say she cannot be trusted, 59 percent in Iowa, and 55 percent in Virginia.
Compare the numbers to Sanders’ results. Only 24 percent of Colorado voters view the candidate as untrustworthy, 20 percent of Iowans, and a mere 17 percent of Virginians.
Sanders is known for being consistent in his views. Watch him address Congress in 1992. It could easily be a campaign speech in 2015— wealth inequality, tax the rich, etc. Hillary, on the other hand, is a notorious flip flopper.
“I believe marriage is not just a bond, but a sacred bond between a man and a woman”- Clinton, 2004.
Compare that to present day: Clinton is running as a fighter for the LGBT community. She is a flimsy sail, easily pushed by the winds of public opinion.
The Benghazi uproar certainly doesn’t help, regardless if it was a reactionary media frenzy. And whether or not Hillary was just using a personal email account for the sake of “convenience,” the electorate’s trust in her is compromised.
This untrustworthiness in politics is common and is manifested in a nation-wide disillusionment with partisan politics.
According to a recent Pew study titled “A Deep Dive into Party Affiliation” from April of this year, 39 percent of Americans identify as independent, while only 32 percent identify as Democrat and 23 percent as Republican.
According to the data, independent politics has been popular for quite a while, and it has steadily risen since 2008. The recent trend of declining interest in both the Democratic and Republican parties correlates with the past two presidential terms. This era has pushed both parties into increasingly aggressive rhetoric and finger pointing in what appears to be the culmination of partisan conflict.
Whether or not Bernie can carry this plurality of voters is debatable. Presumably, the average independent is more moderate than Sanders. It will, however, play in his favor that he identifies as an independent himself. More importantly, he is perceived as a unique class of politician—a genuine one, which is what independents crave most.
While it is consensus regarding Clinton that her every word is filtered through layers of planning and tailoring, Bernie seems to possess a sincerity that is above political.
Voters are tired of Washington elites. It is evident in the GOP primaries as well, considering that both the frontrunners (Trump and Carson) are by no means politicians. Americans are shifting away from traditional politics. They want a change; Democrats are increasingly finding it in Bernie Sanders, and Republicans are finding it in a neurosurgeon and a tabloid reality TV star.
In 2016, the Democratic Party doesn’t need another crafty political player; it needs a warrior for the working class. It’s too easy to neglect a demographic defined by a lack of monetary and political power. To fight for them takes a sense of propriety that Americans increasingly do not see in Hillary Clinton.
If Americans do not trust their leader, then there is no leadership. In a time of astronomic and growing wealth inequality and constant civil rights conflict, the Democratic Party needs a fresh face. Hillary Clinton represents the past eight years of partisan struggle, and Bernie Sanders is a refreshing take on politics in contemporary America.
