There is no doubt that presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has influenced not only Bozeman High School students, but students all around the nation. Sanders excites students and young people not only because he calls for a free public college education, but because he is a candidate of values, principles and ideas.
In Missoula, at least 9,000 people attended Sanders’s rally and reports say that thousands were not even able to make it into the venue. He also brought his campaign to Billings, where thousands more–including many BHS students–fled to the rally. At both rallies, Sanders spoke about issues specific to Montana.
Mackenzie Kovash, BHS sophomore, went to his rally in Billings.
“He is saying that if he becomes president he will give us the things that our generation needs. [Less] debt, free schooling, more jobs, raising the minimum wage and more,” Kovash said.
According to a new Harvard poll, 18-29 year olds voters have become significantly more liberal in the past year. And tracking polls tell us that nationally, 74-year-old Sanders leads Hillary Clinton by 35 percent among millennials (typically, birth years ranging from 1980-2000). Their preference for democratic control of the White House has nearly doubled. Even before the primaries, young people were “feeling the Bern.”

One of the main issues Sanders addresses that appeals to young people has to do with college tuition and student debt. One of his ideas is to make tuition free at public colleges and universities throughout the country. Also, Sanders would like to substantially cut student loans interest rates while trying to stop the federal government from making a profit on student loans, which he believes is morally wrong and bad economics. Sanders plans to instead use this money to significantly lower student loan interest rates.
Researchers say younger generations have been the most bombarded with marketing slogans and advertising pitches, and Sanders, a former mayor of Burlington, Vermont and Vt. Senator, has a certain “unpolished appeal.” Kovash agrees.
“I think he is a very generous and thoughtful person and he definitely tries to stay positive in any situation and I think those are very important characteristics for one to have… especially a president,” says Kovash.