F ALL 2015
P AGE 11
The Bernie Sanders Campaign: Can he win?
Giovan Soares
Staff Writer
The name Bernie Sanders, (U.S.
Senator D-Vermont) became more
well known once the upstart candidate started making waves in the
Democratic primary polls last summer. Sanders has made stunning
headway against Hillary Clinton, who
many thought would run essentially
unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
He stunned all when he made the
taboo declaration that he was a socialist, a term typically affiliated with the
former Soviet Union, aka the United
Soviet Socialist Republic. Sander's
self-identification as a socialist, along
with his stances on certain issues that
oppose the mainstream Democratic
Party, such as his opinion on gun
control, which aligns most closely
with Republican ideas, portrays him
as a free thinker who is willing to
compromise, drawing support from
many Democrats, Republicans and
Independents.
For a while, it looked like Sanders
was about to win it all with him
sprinting past all other competition,
when suddenly Clinton regained
tremendous ground. Like many of
Sanders’ competitors, Clinton did
“feel the Bern,” but lately she has
emerged like a Phoenix from the
flames, rising in the polls. As of
November, Clinton is the Democratic front runner and has a big lead on
Sanders. According to a CBS poll,
(November 12) Clinton leads with 52
percent of the vote and Sanders with
33 percent. Despite the tremendous
support that Sanders had amassed,
Clinton now has the upper hand.
Clinton's rallies and speeches have
helped her gain support. It seems that
Clinton, has gotten out of the rough
period that saw her campaign plagued
with scandals relating to her handling
of her personal email and attack on
the American diplomatic compound
in Benghazi while she was Secretary
of State.
[This doesn’t mean that Sanders is out
of the race. There is still a chance that
he could pull ahead. Despite his
current slip in the polls, Sanders is
still going strong and donor support
has not ceased.
So far, he hasn't been willing to take
jabs at his fellow Democrats; he
previously swore off negative campaigning, but now it seems things
have changed. Sanders has defended
himself against Clinton for her remarks against his stance on gun control, and her claim that he’s been
sexist towards her. His campaign has
not tolerated this. "If they're going to
have a campaign that attacks Bernie
on gun safety, and imply
that he engages in sexism,
that's unacceptable,” said
Sander's adviser Tad Devine
in an interview with Politico. "We're not
going to stand for that. We're going to
have to talk about other things if they do
that," said Devine.
Duirng a CNN interview, Sanders
claimed that Clinton changes her stance
on key issues "just because it is politically
expedient at a given time." Despite
adopting a more offensive posture, Sanders has also tried to remain civil. During
the same interview Sanders said, "I believe in serious debates on serious issues.
I've known Hillary Clinton for 25 years.
Maybe I shouldn't say this: I like Hillary
Clinton. I respect Hillary Clinton." This
shows that Sanders is a “nice guy” and
while he wants to win, he would rather
do it without tearing apart a friend.
Sanders wants to keep his campaign clean,
but he knows what campaigns are about.
People who support Sanders appreciate
him because they see him as a strong
willed candidate who isn’t afraid to speak
his mind. It's the same type of appeal that
Donald Trump has benefited from. But,
just as Trump has lost some of the wind in
his sails, so has Sanders. Only time will
tell who will become the Democratic
nominee for president, but Sanders's
supporters hope more people will start to
“Feel the Bern.”
Democratic Presidentail CandidateBernie Sanders (Rick Loomis/Los Angeles
Times/TNS with permission.)
“P EOPLE
WHO
SUPPORT
S ANDERS
APPRECIATE
HIM BECAUSE
THEY SEE HIM
AS A STRONG
WILLED
CANDIDATE
WHO ISN ’ T
AFRAID TO
SPEAK HIS
MIND .”
- G IOVAN
S OARES
Boning Up in Mr. Beer’s Anatomy Class
Alexis LaPointe, Brooke Ritchie and Abby Gendreau brushing up on their “Hamlet.”
Jake Snyder, Dylan Gately and someone else share a
high five.
Mike Nickley, Alyssa Devlin and Brian Diver examining
a pelvis.