Bernie Sanders is in his seventies (74, to be exact). A major group of people that Bernie has been doing well with is apparently the youth. In all fairness, this seems to be very ironic. Sure, Bernie is doing great with the young people of America, but such a small number of them actually vote. For example, Bernie Sanders got 84 percent of the youth vote, but only managed to get a measly 18 percent of the youth to actually vote. What does this reveal about young people and voting in this nation? What does it illustrate about the power they yield?

According to the Edison Research Iowa entrance poll that was reported by FiveThirtyEight, Sanders destroyed Hillary Clinton in the 17-29 electorate. There is no question that Sanders is more appealing to the younger crowd. However, that means nothing if the youth electorate does not vote. The millennial generation is usually associated with low participation rates in the election process. According to Hanan Esaili of the Huffington Post, this generation is “lazy” and “self-involved,” as well as “too involved in technology.” It seems ironic then, that this generation, with so much information at their fingertips, isn’t more politically involved.

Why is Bernie Sanders unable to get much of the young electorate to actually vote? Can he even do anything about it?

“Most people who support Bernie Sanders are too young to vote,” says freshman Michael Baranowski. Many kids in this norms-defying election season are really interested in politics. Many of them are too young, perhaps in high school.

“We don’t effectively use our power, like voting for a president,” remarks 9th grader Andrew Borges. A major principle that democracy is founded upon is the fact that people have a right to participate in the political process. That yields some great power. However, many people just disregard this principle and power. They simply do not vote.

“Sanders, wisely, has captured the Internet, a highly valuable asset, that few opponents have gained,” says Whitman freshman Andrew Harrigan. Are you “Feeling the Bern?” Enough said.
The age difference between the electorate and its candidate is an excellent example of juxtaposition. Bernie Sanders is the most likely choice of the young people. This antithesis is just another example of how this election season is out of the ordinary, on both the Democratic and the Republican sides.