Prior to May 2015, I can guarantee that the majority of America had no idea of who Bernie Sanders was. Senator Sanders now has around 2.46 million followers from both of his Twitter accounts (@BernieSanders & @SenSanders) combined. Ohio’s primary is on March 15 and the deadline to register is by Feb.16. I highly recommend that everyone goes out to vote in their state’s primary, regardless of your political affiliation.
With that being said, here are just a few reasons why you should consider voting for Bernie Sanders: Bernie refuses to take any money from Super PACs (Political Action Committees) and has been running a successful grassroots campaign.
He wants to overturn Citizens United, a Supreme Court decision which allows unlimited amounts of money to be used in electoral politics.
He wants to reinforce the Voting Rights Acts, which would make it easier to vote. Lastly, Bernie’s stance on many issues has been consistent throughout his entire political career.
Regarding LGBTQ+ rights, in 1971 and 1976 when he was running for office in Vermont, he proposed the abolishment of all discriminatory laws pertaining to sexuality. When “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was introduced in 1993, Bernie voted against it. In 1996, he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, which, unfortunately, was passed by Congress. He supported Vermont’s legalization of gay marriage in 2009, and in 2011, he called for President Obama to support marriage equality for Americans throughout the country. To this day, Bernie has been an outspoken ally and will continue to be.
His record of fighting for social equality goes back to the 1960s. In college, he was a student leader of the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
In 1963, he marched on Washington and heard the “I Have A Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bernie also has a wonderful voting record on issues that prevent discrimination against Latinos. In 2007, he voted against legislation that would have made English the official language of the United States government in order to have government materials still be available in Spanish and other languages. He also strongly supports the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (D.R.E.A.M.) Act which would grant conditional residential status to people who came to the U.S. before the age of 16 along with other requirements. Bernie also voted against the Immigration Law Enforcement Act, which would have allowed local police the ability “to investigate, identify, arrest or detail or transfer to federal custody” any undocumented immigrant.
Bernie has also been a true feminist since day one. In 1993, he cosponsored the Freedom of Choice Act. He has received a rating of 100 percent from NARAL Pro-Choice America. In the matter of pay equity, he believes that everyone regardless of their gender and/or race deserves “equal pay for equal work.” In March 2001, he even co-sponsored a constitutional amendment that would ensure fair treatment and employment of women.
If what I have already said still hasn’t swayed you, here are his stances and history on issues that all college students can relate to. In 2013, he co-sponsored and advocated for the Student Loan Affordability Act. This act would have reduced the interest rate for Federal Direct Stafford Loans. He also wants all public colleges and universities in America to be tuition free. Bernie is advocating for student loan interest rates to be drastically reduced. He also sponsored the College for All Act in which he focuses on more issues that affect college students. Bernie believes that all students deserve the opportunity to receive quality education while it being affordable at the same time.
After reading this article, you can see that Bernie Sanders has been on the right side of history for a long time. I hope you consider joining the campaign to elect Bernie Sanders for president. Remember to always do your own research on anything that you read or what people say. If you would like to learn more about Bernie’s stance on issues and voting records, go to feelthebern.org. To learn whether you will be able to vote in your state’s primary election go to voteforbernie.org. This site tells you what type of primary your home state has, when it is, and the deadline to register for it if necessary.
Monét Davis, a contributing writer for the Voice, can be reached at mdavis19@wooster.edu