Politics

Young People Are 'Fed up' With Hillary Clinton

February 9th 2016

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Voters here are braving the cold and slush Tuesday to cast their votes in the state's primary. The results of the first primary will be announced tonight, but a crucial segment of eligible voters — the mythical Millennial bloc — is already more or less decided.

Some polls indicate that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders appears to have the youth vote on lock. In Iowa, the Vermont senator was the pick for a whopping 84 percent of Democrats between the ages of 17 and 29 (as opposed to Hillary Clinton's 14), according to entrance polls.

Whether this success follows Sanders to New Hampshire has yet to be seen, even though polling has given him a substantial lead here over Clinton.

ATTN: spoke with a number of college-aged students at a Clinton rally at Manchester Community College on Monday to find out why young people are so disproportionately in favor of Sanders.

bernie-sandersBernieSanders.com - berniesanders.com

Overwhelmingly, students said Sanders represents a breath of political fresh air — and a reprieve from the dynasty politics they believe the Clinton campaign embodies.

"Free college is definitely huge," said Carissa Ramirez, who was undecided, of Sanders' appeal to young voters. She added that a sense of mistrust from former President Bill Clinton's scandals in office sets an uncomfortable backdrop that served to amplify some of Hillary Clinton's ongoing scandals.

Clinton students /Alex Mierjeski - attn.com

A friend sitting nearby, Alyssa Rittweger, said Clinton was the type of politician that young people are fed up with.

"I don't really believe in the dynasty politics of major families like the Bushes or the Clintons," she said, adding that Sanders is less of a party politician than Clinton. "He's more of an outsider, and I like that. I don't necessarily support anyone from either party from the establishement."

"He also just comes across as more of a genuine and honest candidate than Hillary does," Rittweger said.

Sanders' appeal as an honest, everyman's politician seems to be a consistent thread that runs through his appeal to young people.

"I don't think she's trustworthy, and I don't think she's about the issues that I'm about," said Emily Beck, who said she supported Sanders.

"I think she's just saying she's about the issues I'm about because they're just trendy and they'll get her votes," she said, citing income inequality.

"I think we see all these problems that aren't getting fixed because the same types of people are being elected into office," added Claire Bilderback, who was sitting nearby. "Bernie Sanders is just a really different type of candidate who speaks my mind. I feel like the only way change is going to happen is if things change."

Michael Hathaway, a 20-year-old Bernie supporter at the Clinton speech, agreed that for young people, Clinton seemed like less of a "genuine" candidate than Sanders, whom he said exhibited an honest fight for the common person.

Clinton Sanders votesRandall Hill/Reuters - newsweek.com

"I feel like she's not a genuine person," he said. "She says she's fighting for the common man, but if you look at her voting record, if you look at her donors, at the millions that she takes from Wall Street, I think that's really telling about what she's really about."

Hathaway said that Clinton's "conveniently timed" shifts on different stances mirrored broader shifts in American public opinion. Sanders, he said, "has held the same progressive views for almost 35 years — even when they were unpopular. "So I think for a lot of people in our generation, Bernie seems to be really truly fighting for the common man; Hillary is not."

Which is not to say that the former secretary of state does not have young supporters.

"When I look at what the next president's going to be able to do, and then I compare that to what Bernie's talking about and what Hillary is talking about, Hillary is somebody who I think would come into the office ready to go; she has the experience to get things done not just on day one, but on day two, day three, and day four," said Jack, a 19-year-old public policy student canvassing for Clinton in Manchester, who declined to give his last name.

"Bernie's a great person to carry a particular message and to bring important issues to the forefront," Jack continued, "but when it comes to actually being president, I think Hillary is the person that would get things done."

Share your opinion

Do you agree with these young voters' assessment of Hillary Clinton?

No 23%Yes 77%