Hillary enlists ex-foe Sanders for youth votes
DURHAM (AP) — Appealing to elusive young voters, Hillary Clinton turned to former primary adversary Bernie Sanders on Wednesday to connect with millennials drawn to third-party candidates threatening to act as spoilers in the 2016 campaign.
“None of this will happen if you don’t turn out and vote,” Clinton said on stage at the University of New Hampshire while flanked by Sanders, who overwhelmed her in the state’s first-in-the-nation primary nine months ago.
Both Clinton and Sanders touted a plan they developed at the end of the primaries to make college debt- free for millions of students from middle-class and lowincome families. Amid signs promoting the proposal, Clinton promised to push the plan through Congress if elected.
The former opponents sat on stage for a panel discussion on ways to make college more affordable in the battleground state.
“I am here today to ask you not only to vote for Secretary Clinton but to work hard,” said Sanders, who exchanged a brief hug with Clinton after she took the stage. “It is imperative that we elect Hillary Clinton as our next president.”
Young voters were a key part of US President Barack Obama’s winning coalition, with two-thirds of voters under 30 backing him in 2008 and 60 percent four years later, according to exit polls. That same group fueled Sanders’ insurgent bid, keeping him in the race until the final primary contest concluded in June.
But while millennials have recoiled from Donald Trump, they haven’t flocked to Clinton, who’s not only shy of Obama’s mark, but also well behind John Kerry’s level of support with young voters when he lost in 2004.
Particularly concerning to the Clinton campaign is the numbers of young voters — nearly a fifth, according to polls — drifting to the Libertarian nominee, Gary Johnson, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Clinton’s team worries that if those third-party candidates continue to draw significant support from Clinton, it would lower the margin Trump needs to win the White House.