By DONG SEONG LYU
With the new presidential campaign coming to a head in Iowa, Democratic supporters must now decide between the two front-runners of the Democratic party, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Although Hillary inched out Sanders in the Iowa caucuses, students in Ramapo seem to support Sanders more than they support Clinton.
During the Iowa caucuses, Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state, was leading with a 14.4 lead against Bernie Sanders, former senator of Vermont. However, at the end of the caucus, Clinton ended up winning the Iowa caucus with 29 votes against Sanders’ 21 votes.
Although, Clinton won the Iowa Democratic caucus, students in Ramapo seem to favor Sanders more. The Ramapo students interviewed said that they preferred Sanders because of his grassroots campaign approach. Students interviewed said that Sanders’ economic reforms seemed more relatable towards middle-class citizens.
When the presidential campaign began, Sanders refused to accept big-money donations, saying, “I don’t want money from the billionaires,” and instead accepted small donations from his website.
“Though others argue that Bernie Sanders is on the fringe and is less electable than Hillary Clinton, I am an adamant supporter of Sanders,” Karlito Almeda, president of the College Democrats in Ramapo said. “Though Sanders is not the politician or pragmatist that Clinton has displayed, his heartfelt reforms resonate with my left-leaning philosophy.
“Sanders may also be outside the ‘establishment’ and not on the friendliest terms with the DNC, but I do believe that his large purported turnout at his rallies are a testament to the deep seated concerns the United States has held,” added Almeda.
The College Democrats’ leaders explained that Sanders is a competitive candidate. “For the Democrats, it is important to maintain an image of hegemony or a consensus of thought because this is one of their main advantages that they have and are capitalizing in an extremely important presidential race,” Almeda said.
Jessie Castellanos, a computer science major at Ramapo said that “America needs an extreme president like him that will address the problems that need to be address inside our country.
“There has been a lot of corruption within our country and Bernie Sanders seems like the type of person that puts his country first, instead of his own gains,” Castellanos added. “Recently, he was to meet with President Obama and in the day before, he voted against his nominee for the new head of the FDA, even though doing so would have given him political brownie points.”
Castellanos predicts that if Clinton does not become president, then Sanders will. “He is gaining a lot of traction especially with millennials. I don’t know anyone around my age that isn’t a big Bernie fan,” he said.
As the Iowa caucus came to a close, people started to also realize how potent of a threat Sanders could be towards Clinton. According to politico magazine, “On the Democratic side, this is still Hillary Clinton’s nomination to lose. That said, the close result last night, plus Bernie Sanders’ good fundraising numbers from over the weekend, mean the party could be in for a long nomination fight. Sanders passed the “legitimacy” test in Iowa. He has opened the door to Democratic voters in later states taking a second look at him.”
With the neck-and-neck race that happened last week, people are now starting to wonder about the New Hampshire caucus. However, now that Hillary Clinton sees how effective Bernie Sanders really is, it looks like the excitement will not be over soon.
I like the angle of your story but I think it would be good to hear about students that don’t support Sanders as well, just to get a different perspective.
This is a well-written article. There were a couple of errors and word revisements I would suggest, but it was well-rounded with many good quotes. What would have made this story even better is if you reported the exact number of Ramapo students that actually supported Sanders above everyone else. I would have also wanted to know if the prople you talked to actually voted or plan to vote, because many young people tend to not vote at all.