Democrat rivals take fight to the young
Bernie Sanders takes more than 70% of his support from the under 30s, but the front-runner Hillary Clinton also understands the youth vote, James Gabrillo reports
Marita Geisler sa id it was the best concert she had seen. She couldn’t stop smiling. She wouldn’t stop jumping. “I’m taking off my heels,” said the 18-year-old, as dance music blared around her. “This is pretty crazy.”
Pretty crazy indeed, considering it wasn’t even a concert but a political rally. Last Thursday afternoon, 18,500 people – many of them looking like they were under the age of 30 – gathered in a public park in Bronx, New York to see a 74-year-old man speak. “Welcome to the Bronx, Bernie,” screamed a group near by. “Bronx block party.” Ms Geisler and her friends cheered in response.
“I just wanted to show my support,” Ms Geisler said. “I just want to see him up close.”
Bernie Sanders has surprised observers with his rapid rise in the current Democratic presidential primaries. Once considered a huge underdog to Hillary Clinton’s bid, lately he’s been giving her something to be nervous about.
While Mrs Clinton has earned an impressive 1,243 delegates so far, Mr Sanders has secured 980. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the nomination. With three months of primary contests to go before the dust settles and the winner becomes clear, Mr Sanders’s supporters believe he can, and will, catch up.
The most striking thing about Mr Sanders’s candidacy is his popularity with young voters. During the recent caucuses in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington – all of which he won – he racked up more than 70 to 80 per cent of his support from those people aged between 18 and 29. According to data, millennials make up 36 per cent of all eligible voters.
“He’s energised us,” said Jake Caraco, a 20- year- old student standing a few rows behind Ms Geisler. Mr Caraco, a freshman economics major at Baruch College, said his family had taken out a loan of about US$15,000 ( Dh55,000) for his first year in college. His father works as a security guard, his mother is a tailor.
“Bernie has promised to make tuition free, so of course I’m here to support him,” said Mr Caraco. “He seems sincere.” Like many supporters of Mr Sanders, the New York primary on April 19 will be Mr Caraco’s first experience of voting. A monumental 291 delegates are at stake. The latest polls suggest Mrs Clinton will win comfortably, with 61 per cent of the votes. Mr Caraco declares that if Mrs Clinton wins the nomination, he will vote for her in the November elections.
But Mr Sanders’s denunciation of Wall Street that has become his battle cry – “If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist” – has also captured the youth’s attention. “We grew up during the recession. We saw what happens when you let the richest of the rich become too greedy. So we need a revolution,” said 18-yearold Leila Fores.
Ms Fores lives with her family of six in the South Bronx neighbourhood of Mott Haven, where the rally is being held. It is only 10 miles away from Wall Street, but here at Mott Haven, close to 50 per cent of the residents are living in poverty.
“Someone was murdered right here on this park a few days ago,” Ms Fores said.
Her friend, 22-year-old Michael Richards, is carrying a homemade sign made from an old pizza box. “Feel the Bern,” it says. The image of a burning flame surrounds the words. Mr Richards drew it using his 14-year-old brother’s marker pens.
“No one comes to this part of town,” he said. “I don’t think we’re considered as important like other parts of Manhattan. This doesn’t happen a lot here – it’s nice.”
Asked why he prefers Mr Sanders to Mrs Clinton, Mr Richards said: “Bernie’s our cool uncle, you know? He’s looking out for us all. I don’t think we’re Hillary’s priority. She’s part of the 1 per cent – I can’t vote for someone like that.”
Less than 24 hours before Mr Sanders’s rally in the Bronx, Mrs Clinton was holding her own event in nearby Harlem.
She was scheduled to speak at 11.30am at the Apollo Theatre – the historic music hall where many African- American stars such as Aretha Franklin and Louis Armstrong have performed. At 9.30am, a queue of about 500 people had already snaked around the theatre and up to the next block. There were fewer younger faces in the crowd than the ones that would later show up at the rally for Mr Sanders.
Charmaine Deakin, a 24-yearold furniture designer, was one of the first in line. “I’ve been here since seven am,” she said. Her friend, a colleague at work, was sitting in a nearby coffee shop. They were taking turns waiting in the queue. “We skipped work today for this, but I think our bosses will be OK,” Ms Deakin said. “I mean, this is Hillary.” Ms Deakin said she was supporting Mrs Clinton because of her platform and experience.
“When you look closely at her plans, you’ll see that she’s the only candidate running in this election who really understands the issues we’re facing today – everything from climate change to immigration, the economy, gun violence and women’s rights.”
Mrs Clinton has been especially popular with female voters. Later, during her speech at the Apollo, she spoke about some of her policy proposals, such as tackling systemic racism and raising the minimum wage. The crowd occasionally interrupted her with chants of “Madam President” and “I’m with her”.
Mrs Clinton got the biggest reaction when she demanded equal pay for women. “Republicans say that when I talk like this, I’m playing the gender card,” she said. “My answer is very simple: if fighting for equal pay and for a minimum wage is playing the gender card, then deal me in.”
Mahalia Miller, 27, was just one of the crowd show shouted back: “Deal me in. Deal me in.”
Later, asked why she thought young voters like her preferred Mr Sanders to Mrs Clinton, Ms Miller turned sombre.
“I don’t think they realise what’s at stake in this election. First of all, we cannot have a single- issue president,” she said, echoing Mrs Clinton’s recurring criticism her Democrat opponent. “Second, we need someone with solid and proven experience. Hillary has proven time and time again, even as First Lady, that she gets the job done.
“Third, her message of love and kindness and equality is so inspiring. Bernie is too whiny, too grumpy. I don’t want a president who doesn’t smile,” Ms Miller said. “He’s so unrealistic. Free college – how will he do that, exactly?”
In recent months, Mrs Clinton’s camp has made an effort to attract younger supporters, such as focusing on college affordability during speeches. Her 35-yearold daughter, Chelsea, has also been appearing at rallies to serve as a youthful surrogate.
After her speech, Mrs Clinton lingered at the podium, in much the same way Mr Sanders has often done. She stayed for about 15 minutes, taking selfies on stage with her fans.
An elderly woman, who walked with a cane, approached Mrs Clinton with a younger male companion. “Have you ever taken a selfie?” Mrs Clinton asked her. “Let me show you how,” she said, as she took the younger companion’s iPhone and extended her arm to take a picture with the woman. After the speech, Mohammad Ullah, a 47-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh who owns a news-stand in front of the music hall, said: “It’s been good, good, very good.” He had not sold as much in a long time.
“The M&M peanuts – sold out,” he said, beaming. “This morning I was asking, ‘What is this for? Why are there so many people?’ They said, ‘Oh, Hillary is here’.”
Mr Ullah smiled when he found out that Mrs Clinton ended her speech with the story of Mohammad Salman Hamdani, a Pakistani-born paramedic who was killed in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York while rescuing people.
“We don’t all look the same. We don’t all sound the same or worship the same, but we pull together,” said Mrs Clinton.
“Hillary is good. She’s good,” said Mr Ullah, who revealed he had been planning to vote for Republican candidate Donald Trump until today.
Just then, a trio of young friends, all wearing an “H” sticker on their jackets, stopped at his news-stand. “Hill-ary, Hill-ary,” Mr Ullah cheered, then they all laughed together.