Why I Want Bernie Sanders to Run for President in 2016

I like Bernie Sanders. I really, truly do. There are a few things he’s got going for him that I am a particularly strong supporter of, among them being how straight-forward he is with his intentions, the fact that he is such a strong proponent of lessening the massive wealth gap, his emphasis on prioritizing fixing America while not neglecting international crises, and his avid support of social equality. Frankly, I would not care if he ran as a Democrat or an independent Democratic Socialist (that’s a lie, it would be best if he ran on the Democratic ticket). It’s his firm policies and unwavering morals that make him who he is.

You can’t really say that Sanders isn’t straight with us. He cuts through the bullshit and gets to his policies and the core of his intentions. He actually follows through, too — not only does he disapprove of Citizens United (so do I), but he actively stands up to it. Sanders introduced Constitutional amendment S.J.RES.33 that, if passed, would “prohibit corporate spending in all elections” and allow Congress and States to regulate spending on elections, because big businesses and corporations should not be the ones deciding elections. Bernie goes as far as to refuse to accept PAC money for his campaigns, which is something incredibly admirable that I have never heard of any other candidates doing.

Senator Sanders is also a firm believer in reducing the widening wealth gap that, according to the rating agency Standard and Poor, increased the likelihood of the economy to fall victim to boom and bust cycles as well as slowing the progress of the recovery from the recession of 2008. According to Bernie’s website, he has called for raising the minimum wage to $10.10, investing in infrastructure (creating jobs), re-writing trade policies, and investing in renewable energy (creating even more jobs). These are things that, simply put, make sense. See this link for more information on his wealth gap policies.

Let’s also take a moment to reflect on all of the controversial overseas wars that we’ve been involved in in the past few presidencies and how many ended up doing more harm than good. Billions of dollars have been poured into overseas operations, yet we still have so much reforming to do in our own county. Bernie recognizes this and while he does not move to neglect foreign affairs and involvement by any means, he does not want to meddle.

Bernie has also been a vigilant advocate for social equality. Need proof? Look no further than his voting records. He’s co-sponsored bills promoting gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights such as the Student Non-Discrimination Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and the re-introducing of the Equal Rights Amendment. He has also signed onto many more bills and has received perfect or near-perfect ratings from numerous activist organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign, and the NAACP.

The Wrap

America has become increasingly afraid of the alarming number of politicians that are all talk, corporate sell-outs, or both. Politicians who are as reliable and true to their morals as Bernie Sanders are few in number. Because he does not accept PAC money, his presidential campaign will only be made possible through supporters volunteering for his campaign on a grassroots level. This is someone who you’ll definitely want in office, so please help him to help us by spreading the word!

Mudslinging in Politics: Why I Can’t Stand It

You’ve just got to love all of the attack ads that you see on television during election season. It’s really special that candidates and PACs spend millions on commercials that do nothing besides slander and degrade the opposition instead of using that money to, I don’t know, advertise what their actual policies are or expanding voter contact efforts.

Attack ads have been incredibly frustrating for me, especially since I had the privilege of being a field intern for such an honest Congressman in a toss-up race. Mudslinging was absolutely everywhere. It was present in both campaigns’ literature, in ads funded by PACs, in speeches made by the candidates — really everywhere you’d look. There are so many voters whom I’ve met that have become increasingly pessimistic about politics because all you seem to hear are politicians voicing their hatred and disrespect for each other.

People would tell me this too. I know I couldn’t be the only one so bothered by mudslinging, and it was almost reassuring to hear others voicing their concerns. When I would hand literature out to voters, they would see the side that slammed our opponent, and there were numerous complaints. Some even went so far as to completely refuse to vote purely because of this. I would always feel embarrassed because my candidate as a representative and human being was so incredible, yet the slandering somewhat discredits this. This is not to say that our opponent didn’t do the same; in fact our opponent was the first one to produce slanderous literature and had approximately two million dollars more outside spending than us going towards attack ads. It got to the point when there were people in school asking me whether our opponent’s attack ads were true or not (which they for the most part weren’t). I just wish that I could say that our campaign was able to rise above this instead of fighting fire with fire.

Negative political ads have been discouraging voters from hitting the polls and falsely portraying candidates, so why do campaigns and PACs spend millions on them? They do seem to be effective, but at a great cost: imposing overly biased opinions on the public in their own homes, many of whom not knowing any better than to believe them. One of the ads attacking my candidate was deemed so deceitful that it was taken off of the air. The scariest part about that is not knowing who that ad reached before being removed, as it is entirely possible that advertisements like that are what cost us this year’s election.

What can campaigns do about this?

First of all, I would love to see campaigns straight-up refraining from contributing to the overwhelming amount of letters, television commercials, YouTube ads, etc. condemning their opponents that we see so much of during election season. Too much.

Do you know what I haven’t seen enough of? The actual policies supported by said candidates and what they plan on doing if elected. The American voter shouldn’t have to search through excessively biased, slanderous bullshit when trying to make an informed decision. Instead, voting records for previous incumbents running for reelection (and, again, policies and plans for new runners) would go a long way, or at least in my opinion.

An increase in emphasis on voter-to-voter contact would also be nice, whether it be in the form of canvassing or non-robotic phone calls. there is absolutely nothing wrong with citizens doing their best to spread the word about their candidates through their own opinion and giving you as much information as they can hold in their brains.

How do you feel about mudslinging? What do you propose we do about it?