At a town hall in Las Vegas leading up to Saturday’s Democratic caucus, Sen. Bernie Sanders addressed how he would fight for women’s equality as president of the United States, declaring himself a “strong feminist,” and even joking about being an “honorary woman.”
All kidding aside however, Sanders has a shocking amount of support from young female Democrats, given the fact that his opponent, Hillary Clinton, has the chance to become the first female president.
A USA Today/Rock the Vote poll conducted in January found that Sanders had a significant 19-point lead over Clinton among Democratic and Independent women ages 18 to 34. Cosmopolitan Magazine talked to four of these young women about why they support Sanders over Hillary Clinton.
The women agreed that they don’t necessarily dislike Clinton, however, the former Secretary of State is not a candidate they would be particularly excited to support.
University of South Carolina sophomore Megan Taylor said she was “ready for Hillary,” but became less enchanted with her after looking into some of her past policy decisions.
University of Nevada senior Isabel Youngs also disapproved of Clinton’s record, especially the donations she has taken from various corporate interests, saying that “Hillary’s values have a price tag,” and that she has a “political sharpness, but that desperation scares me.”
The women said they identify with Sanders more on issues like raising the minimum wage, access to affordable health care, student loans, and taking down Wall Street and career politicians.
“I obviously want to see a woman in the White House as the president,” said Middlebury College junior Elizabeth Lee. “But I think that we need to prioritize the issues before we can prioritize who this person is. In the future, there will be more women candidates running, and I can imagine a woman coming into the White House. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Hillary Clinton; it can be someone else.”
Taylor added that she thinks Sanders’ policies would actually do more for women than Clinton’s policies would.
“…women don’t just need reproductive rights and a decrease in the pay gap, and they don’t just need to see women represented in politics; they also need the same things that everybody else needs,” she said. “That’s really why I lean Bernie. Not that I fault any feminist who votes for Hillary.”
