Bernie Sanders has been called many things: a socialist, an “elderly dyspeptic Bilbo Baggins,” and most recently—in the words of climate change activist and Sanders supporter Bill McKibben—a “hurricane.” Fittingly, on October 3, more than 26,000 Bostonians flooded the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center to hear to the unconventional Democratic presidential candidate speak.
Walking up to the podium, Sanders sported his trademark features: mussed white hair and hunched shoulders. As he waved his hand in the air, the packed convention center erupted in cheers. Posters and signs bobbed up and down, along with a giant cardboard cut-out of the Vermont senator’s head. Outside, thousands of supporters watched in the overflow rooms set up around the corner.
During his hour-long speech, Sanders spoke extensively about student debt reduction and free public education.“What we are [currently] doing is pulling the rug out from under these young people,” argued Sanders. “We are harming the future of America, and we need to capitalize on the best intellects that we can, regardless of the income of their families.” For Bert, a college student based in Boston, Sanders’ free tuition for public university institutions rang true. “As a college student, I’m very interested in his idea [of making] public education free for everyone,” he reflected in an interview with the HPR.
While Sanders spoke of a“political revolution” that would cater to youth, the working class, racial minorities, and the elderly, not “everyone” was reflected in the supporters who showed up at the rally. The demographic was largely white, comprised of many college students—and brought up important questions about Sanders’ campaign.
According to recent polls done by NBC and the Wall Street Journal, only 25 percent said they could see themselves supporting Sanders. Pivotally, 95 percent of nonwhite Democratic voters said they could see themselves supporting Democratic presidential campaign frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.
So why is a man who is preaching for economic, political, and social justice, an activist who led sit-ins in the 1960s and marched on Washington with Martin Luther King Jr., polling such low numbers with minorities?
Perhaps it’s that he is not as well known yet as Hillary Clinton, or that Sanders is not seen yet as a relevant candidate—but these questions of demographics need to be a major focal point for the Sanders campaign, if he plans on becoming a serious contender.
(Image credits: Mattea Mrkusic and Camille Schmidt)
