Millenial’s Mutual Support For Sanders: It is More Than Just a Campaign
Wednesday, April 8th, 2020 was a disappointing day for Bernie Sander fans post-news of his presidential campaign suspension. The news was almost especially heartbreaking for his millennial supporters whom have created a fierce online driving force for the campaign. According to Teen Vogue, “It appears that younger voters may have made up a smaller share of the electorate in key states. That ultimately made the young support that backed Sanders a weaker force than the older voters who more often backed Biden.” (Diavolo, 2020.) Young voters challenge the traditional Boomer generations’ political agenda. The Twitter account: ‘@Bernlennials,’ and the Reddit community, ‘Sanders for President,’ are two of many online mediums that expose different millennial perspectives and solidarity for Sanders. Democratic socialism in America, Sander’s ideologies, and the 2020 campaign has been embraced by Bernlennials lives both in and out of the online community.
The typical Bernlennial has many reasons for endorsing Sanders but the main one is battling debt. Millenials come from different backgrounds and cultures however they form a united front on twitter when advocating for free college tuition and the nullification of student debt. They share many common beliefs and show rituals and patterns of expression and creativity online. On twitter they post art, poems, paintings, digital art, share stories, create virtual chats, and debate watch parties. Larson writes, “To the Biden trolls trying to shame us into supporting him: we were only here for Bernie and you stole Bernie from us for the second time, but this isn’t a corporate takeover. We’re not your employees. Biden is your candidate. You can canvass and phone bank for him. Worst of luck.” A response in agreement, described Joe Biden as a “senile, pedo waste of a vote” and that another four years with Trump would be torture. (Larrison, 2020.) According to an article “Education once seemed to promise an inviolable social contract—a degree produced a job, and the job procured a good middle-class life or better—the rising cost of school has combined with a chilly labor market to create a perfect storm: Low youth wages that make it hard to pay off record-high student debt.” (Thompson, 2016.) The tone of the participants on twitter is aggressive and audacious but with good reason. Sanders fans clearly refuse to accept the reality dictated by haters.
Many Bernlennials on reddit have gravitated towards radical ideas such as universal healthcare, despite Republican out lash and disputes within its very own democratic party. Millennial members come from different demographics and states. In the virtual world they share memes, Kevin Moore or @u/kevinmrr, a white, millennial, activist, layer, writer, and former bus boy at olive garden shares a meme reflecting mutual feelings about Bernie’s campaign leave: the meme is a photo shopped picture of Bernie holding up a middle finger on a novel cover with the title ‘Bernie Sanders: You Coulda Had a Bad Bitch I Will Never Ever Ever Ever Ever Be Your Side Chick’, it has 42.k fire reactions. (2020) The reactions mean 42.k people agree or enjoy the meme. I personally thought the meme was hilarious and a good use or play on words of Megan the Stallion’s popular song lyrics to show his fan’s disappointment. I think his ideas are a step towards the right direction and towards equality. A lot of these memes are comedic yet informal and explain how Sanders is a pioneer for the working class.
Bernie Sanders, as the gate-keeper to his online following interacts with them by interviewing and listening to people’s stories. He expresses empathy and has real conversations with his supporters. Bernie Sander did an interview on the Desus and Mero show where the hosts are two millennial male New Yorkers of color. Desus and Mero’s show relates to a lot of millenials. They ask Sander’s about important issues about Legalizing marijuana, but also answers some fun questions ones like whether “he’s eaten a New York chopped cheese?” or “who’s his favorite rapper?” He also met a group of millenials from Florida and discussed mass incarceration, debt, big corporation bailouts, climate change, and immigration. He listen’s as they tell personal stories of being let down by these institutions and our government. Sander’s slogan “Not me. Us.” carries out the message that he is for the people. Sanders seems like a very genuine candidate the way he has interviewed some millenials in Florida. The terms often projected by members are: “ending endless wars”, “abolish ICE”, “fight for someone you don’t know”, “with these hands”, “solidarity”, “eat the rich.” Their behavior is criticized as angry, Sanders fans tweet “snake emojis at Warren accusing her of being an anti-Sanders backstabber to online harassment of (generally female) Warren supporters.” Bernie supporters are gaslighted and labeled as “ ‘Bernie Bros’ — a term coined in 2016 to describe privileged white male Sanders supporters that doesn’t accurately describe his 2020 base — has obscured the real nature of the problem: a particular subculture among some Sanders fans that flourishes primarily on Twitter.”(Beauchamp, 2020.) Most millennials have no filter. Leftists respond in defense advocating not only freedom of thought and speech—Chapo host Amber A’ Lee Frost wrote in his 2016 essay titled “The Necessity of Political Vulgarity” in the left-wing magazine Current Affairs, argues “To dismiss vulgarity as a tool for fighting the powerful, to say that being mean is ‘ridiculous,’ is to deny history, and to obscure a long and noble tradition of malicious political japery. In fact, ‘being mean’ not only affords unique pleasures to the speaker or writer, but is a crucial rhetorical weapon of the politically excluded.” (Beauchamp, 2020.) The tone that this each conversation takes is blunt. The participant conceives themselves as not only apart of a community as a millennial Sanders supporter but apart of a culture.
In conclusion Bernie fans born in between years 1980-2000 have found mutual support for the ideas and plans rooted in change. With modern technology and new forms of communication individuals who do not know each other personally can virtually converse politically and organize. Although some fans are bolder than others overall as a whole millenials who follow and identify as a Bernlennial have shown they are a force to be reckoned with and will continue to grow.
Work Cited
Beauchamp, Zach. March 9, 2020.
Diavolo, Lucy. March 4,2020.
August 23,2019
Grumbach, Gary. April 8, 2020.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/bernie-sanders-drops-out-presidential-race-n1155156
Lockhart, P.R. June 17, 2019.
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