Subscribe
Subscribe

Pandering: Dems promise ‘free’ stuff 6 times in debate

By Our View
Add Washington Examiner on Google

At Sunday’s Democrat debate, the candidates clearly had a mission: win over young voters, mostly by promising more “free” stuff.

A recent GenFKD poll showed 85 percent of millennials feel ignored by the presidential candidates — and unlike the Republican debate last week, Democrats made a concerted effort to message (and pander) to younger voters.

The Democrat candidates mentioned young people or millennial issues more than 25 times throughout the debate, and used the word “free” six different times in those attempts.

Here is each “free” mention (emphasis added) in chronological order:

HILLARY CLINTON:

I’ve laid out my ideas about what we can do to make college affordable; how we can help people pay off their student debts and save thousands of dollars, how we can create more good jobs because a lot of the young people that I talk with are pretty disappointed the economic prospects they feel their facing. So making community college free, making it possible to attend a public college or university with debt free tuition, looking for ways to protect our rights especially from the concerted Republican assault; on voting rights, on women’s rights, on gay rights, on civil rights, on workers rights.


BERNIE SANDERS:

Question: Senator Sanders — Senator Sanders, you’ve talked a lot about things you want to do. You want free education for everyone, you want the Federal Minimum Wage raised to $15 an hour. You want to expand Social Security…

SANDERS: … Yeah…


BERNIE SANDERS:

I want every kid in this country who has the ability to be able to go to a public college, or university, tuition free. And, by the way, I want to substantially lower student debt interest rates in this country as well.


HILLARY CLINTON:

I want to raise incomes, not taxes, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that the wealthy pay for debt free tuition, for child care, for paid family leave. To help us bring down student debt we’re going to refinance that student debt, saving kids thousands of dollars.


MARTIN O’MALLEY

The things that we need to do in our country, like debt-free college in the next five years, like making universal — like making national service a universal option in order to cut youth unemployment in half in the next three years, all these things can be done if we eliminate one entitlement we can no longer afford as a nation.


While Hillary Clinton had the most “free” mentions, that was likely in response to her falling poll numbers among millennials —  and even millennial women. Democrat campaign consultants aren’t dumb; they realize that Democrats need Barack Obama’s youth vote coalition in order to win in 2016.

But, instead of inspiring these voters with “Hope and Change,” the 2016 Democrat candidates’ slogan ought to be “Hope for Free Things.”

Unfortunately, this rhetoric works, especially on campus, if left unchecked by Republican efforts. In hypothetical general election matchups, Bernie Sanders is beating every Republican among millennials by double digits.

If Republicans want to improve their youth vote margin, they don’t need to promise free stuff. Many young people are smart enough to know that nothing is free. But, Republicans need to show up where young voters are — on campus and in young professional communities — and start talking about the issues facing next-generation voters.

Maybe Republicans don’t need to mention millennial issues 25 times during a debate, but instead of ignoring the fastest-growing demographic, Republicans could start with five mentions and talk about how this generation is being left behind by bad government policies.

Related Content

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

NEWS

POLICY

COMMENTARY

RESTORING AMERICA

  • © Copyright 2026. Washington Examiner. All Rights Reserved.