It is almost that time of year again. Some may see it as a second Christmas and for anti-Trump voters, it could be a day of celebration.
The 2020 election is approaching rather quickly and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has announced that he will be running for president again.
The 77-year-old Independent and Democratic Socialist is running again after his defeat in 2016. Sanders caught the nation off guard when he came in as an underdog against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The upcoming election will be much different. Sanders is now considered a frontrunner by some during the 2020 election. However, his policy hasn’t changed. He is fighting for the same things he was back in 2016. He is determined, and awfully confident that he will win this time.
Shortly after announcing his campaign, Sanders wrote a lengthy email to past supporters, outlining policies and plan. In it, he wrote, “I’m running for president because a great nation is judged not by how many billionaires and nuclear weapons it has, but by how it treats the most vulnerable — the elderly, the children, our veterans, the sick and the poor.”
Senior political science and criminal justice double major Jhenifer Torrau is not excited Sanders is running for president again.
“I am not exactly happy as this can be another time that he divides the democratic vote again, but I am not surprised. He is a candidate that paved the way for democratic socialists to have a real platform,” Torrau said.
Regardless of the standpoint, Sanders could have a dramatic impact on the 2020 election. Within 24 hours of his announcement, he raised around $6 million. He revealed that $600,000 came from people who signed up for the recurring monthly payments. This demonstrates the ability of the Sanders campaign to raise large amounts of money, an important component of any campaign.
Fellow Democratic Socialist and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “It’s like Netflix, but for unbought members of congress.” She also added that making recurring monthly donations is the “most important thing people can do to get big money out of politics.”
Trump, who once called Sanders, “Crazy Bernie,” has said, “Personally, I think he’s missed his time, but I like Bernie.”
It’ll be interesting to see what Trump has to say once debates start happening and the claws come out.
Something that Sanders introduced back in 2016 was the idea of free college tuition for public four-year colleges. This would be for households that make less than $125,000 annually.
Promising free tuition shouldn’t be the tactic to gain the votes of younger generations. Anything with the word “free” sounds amazing but nothing is actually free. Everything comes with a price.
Torrau doesn’t see free tuition happening.
“I do not think college will ever be free, as everything in the United States, college is a business,” she said. “The policy itself would have trouble being passed in the House and the Senate with his exact ideas, so I think it would have to change for it to have any chance.”
Torrau also added her concern with what she believes the nation is lacking. “Our nation is lacking a real leader who knows foreign policy, who represents not just the rich and the white but every single citizen. Without a strong leader, the nation is divided and weak.”
Will McAvoy, portrayed by Jeff Daniels, in Aaron Sorkin’s “The Newsroom” said it best: “The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.”
We should take this 2020 election as an opportunity to better our nation. As citizens of the United States we have the right to vote: the right for our voices to be heard.
Get registered, do research and figure out what this nation is lacking.
Figure out who will make America a better place to call home.
