Although Senator Sanders has consistently caucused with the Democrats and participated in DSCC fundraising as a Senator, he has been criticized for being an undesirable “new Democrat”. However, if the Democratic National Party is concerned with having a future, they are going to need all the new Democrats they can get not just as short-term 2016 voters but as dedicated enthusiastic party members who will carry the party mantle forward into the future as the leadership grays.
Turns out that Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign message has resonated so strongly with those below the age of 30 that it has caused a significant shift in their opinions on many of his issues in a short period of time when these kinds of changes generally take many years to accomplish.
"He's not moving a party to the left. He's moving a generation to the left," Della Volpe said of the senator from Vermont. "Whether or not he's winning or losing, it's really that he's impacting the way in which a generation — the largest generation in the history of America — thinks about politics."
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It's rare, Della Volpe said, for young people's attitudes to change much from year to year in Harvard's polling, and even more remarkable for so many of these measures to shift in the same direction at the same time.
More than just changing attitudes, Senator Sanders is increasing the number of millennials who are identifying themselves as Democrats.
These are numbers which the Democratic National Party ignores at their peril.An indication of which candidate might be driving these changes is contained in the favorable/unfavorable ratings given but also the stance on issues which are more closely identified with the Sander’s campaign such as the right to health insurance, food and shelter for those in our society who cannot afford them.
In Harvard's poll, Sanders was the clear favorite of young people. Fifty-four percent said they had a favorable view of him, and 31 percent said they had an unfavorable view.
With respect to Hillary Clinton, 53 percent had an unfavorable view, and 37 percent said their views of the former secretary of state were favorable.
Our dysfunctional government is focused on reelection throughout the terms of office. No sooner is an official elected than he or she must devote hours each day in soliciting donations from those who seek influence. Each vote is weighed for the benefit to constituents against the risk of offending those who keep them in office. Like all addictions, corporate funding of our elections is an ugly never-ending cycle which the addicts claim is a necessary evil.
Senator Bernie Sanders has proven with his fundraising ability from small donors that this addiction is not necessary at all if you have a message that resonates with the governed. Not having this addiction to corporate cash, Bernie Sanders is free to govern for the people which is why he is able to espouse an agenda which appeals to the youth:
Unbeholden to the fossil fuel industry, he calls for an aggressive effort by all citizens to fight climate change with a swift transition to renewable energy. Unbeholden to the financial services industry, he calls for banks who are too big to fail to be broken up into smaller entities which serve the needs of people rather than speculation. Unbeholden to the health insurance corporations, he calls for health care as a right of all Americans. Unbeholden to the pharmaceutical industry, he calls for affordable drugs for Medicare and other patients. Unbeholden to the private prison industry, he calls for criminal justice reform.Calls for party unity will go unanswered as long as they are based on fear of the Other Side or from a xenophobic rejection of Sanders’ supporters on a basis of party purity. Rather than acting from a short-term election-based stance, the Democratic Party leadership ought to look for a future for the party which includes the youth.