Senator Bernie Sanders has been garnering mixed remarks on his radical policies both in the Menlo community and beyond. Creative Commons image from David Maialetti (Philadelphia Inquirer).

By Baily Deeter

The 2016 presidential election has the potential to be one of the most interesting and controversial in the history of American politics. While a lot of media attention has been directed toward the Republican candidates, there is an equally intriguing dynamic on the democratic side.

Incumbent Hillary Clinton is still in the lead and remains the favorite to win the nomination among the democrats, but her lead has consistently been decreasing. Bernie Sanders has won eight of the last 14 primaries and caucuses among the democrats, emerging as a significant threat to Clinton.

Sanders, who will be 75 years old at the time of the November election, would be the oldest president by six years to ever take office. If he were elected to serve two terms, he would be 83 years old by the end of his presidency. That alone makes him a unique candidate, but his policies are of even greater intrigue.

He is a self-proclaimed socialist, which differs from the current Obama administration that our country has in place. Socialism tends to have a negative connotation in America, as made evident by the results of a poll conducted by former democratic governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm that said that only 59 percent of democrats and 26 percent of Republicans would vote for a socialist. This is a statistic that makes Sanders’ candidacy very unusual.

However, despite the American stigma on socialism, Sanders is a legitimate contender on the democratic side and has even found the support of some Menlo students. “I support policies like free tuition for public colleges,” senior and avid Sanders supporter Ian Loftis said. “He is pushing for the more traditionally socialist idea of actually providing completely free college.”

Sophomore Roshan Chandna also supports Sanders and his ideas to support the middle class. “I think $15 minimum wage would be great, and stopping fracking would be incredible,” Chandna said.

Sophomore Keeton Martin also identifies as a Sanders supporter. “I like his health care policies, and I like his free education policies,” Martin said. However, he expressed doubt about whether Sanders’ full agenda would be carried out. “I don’t think [his policies] would get anywhere in this crazy Republican congress we have now.”

Having the reputation of being a historically liberal school in a historically liberal state, it makes sense for Menlo students to support Sanders. However, you would also think Menlo would support democratic incumbent Hillary Clinton, especially in a state where Clinton is expected to win in the upcoming democratic primary.

Menlo certainly has its fair share of Clinton supporters. “I feel like Hillary is more qualified for the job,” senior Angel Okoro, a democrat, said. “I feel like [Sanders] says things that aren’t realistic.”

Generally, extremely liberal people tend to support Sanders. More moderate liberals like Nick Barrett support Clinton as their favorite candidate. “Clinton is a more moderate democrat. Some of [Sanders’] policies with taxes wouldn’t work for a lot of people at Menlo,” Barrett said.

A lot of Menlo students are looking for a middle ground, which they don’t find with Sanders. “His policies are just too radical,” senior Lucas Loaiza said. Loaiza, an independent, also supports Clinton, the more moderate of the democrats, but also who he feels is the best option in a difficult pool of candidates.

“There just is no middle ground,” Loaiza said of this year’s election.

While Menlo is generally known as a more democratic school, it has representation from other parties, including the libertarian party. Junior Jason Scharff identifies as Libertarian, a political party which emphasizes political freedom and the freedom of choice. It combines aspects from both parties, but Scharff said in a general election, he would most likely vote for a Republican.

“Bernie Sanders scares me [a lot]. Sanders’ ultimate goal is far scarier [than Hillary Clinton’s],” Scharff said.

He cited some policies that he doesn’t think will work. “Our health care infrastructure would fall apart because there would no longer be an incentive to be a doctor if you’re not making money,” Scharff said. He also added, “$15 minimum wage would be a disaster because in certain parts of the country it’s not feasible to pay people $15 an hour.”

However, he understands that the likelihood of Sanders’ agenda being passed with a majority-Republican House of Representatives is not high. The Republicans are not likely to lose their House majority until 2020 at the earliest, meaning that lots of Sanders’ policies wouldn’t be carried out. “In reality, what would probably happen under a Sanders presidency is pretty much nothing,” Scharff said.

A lot of Menlo students are looking for a moderate candidate, and they just can’t find it with Sanders. Strong liberals like Loftis, Martin, and Chandna showed clear support for Sanders, but it seems that those who aren’t as far left on the political spectrum, like libertarian Scharff, independent Loaiza or moderate liberal Barrett are shying away from Sanders.

While at this point in the process it’s looking highly unlikely, Sanders could still have a chance to become the democratic nominee. As a traditionally liberal school, it makes sense for Menlo students to support the democratic candidate, so it would be interesting to see whether or not students would shift to support Sanders should he become the democratic nominee.