*Please note: This article is a student blog written by a Kevin B. Harrington Student Ambassador. The Ambassador Program is a unique opportunity for Saint Anselm College students of any major to be involved in supporting the Institute's various events and activities. To learn more about our student ambassadors please visit the NHIOP website.
On Saturday, August 27, 2023, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders visited the New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP) at Saint Anselm College.
Senator Sanders opened his speech by claiming that “the American people are tired of press releases, of photo opps; the people want honesty, answers, truth and leadership. We want to understand why we are where we are today, and how we can move to a better place.”
Throughout the polarizing partisan divide splitting our citizenry, there are shared feelings of “deep anger, unease, discontent, and foreboding.” Sanders continued, adding that, “in a world that is changing rapidly…many people are uncertain as to what the future will be; they feel powerless to alter the course of events.”
Vermont Senator quickly made his intent clear. “It is no secret that I want Joe Biden to be re-elected as president,” stated Sanders.
Regardless of his proclaimed support for the future democratic ticket, Sanders acknowledged the extensive work that his party must accomplish in order to secure the vote in 2024. With looming, “existential” threats of climate change, interference in women’s “fundamental rights to reproductive healthcare,” and isolation of marginalized groups like the LGBTQ+ community, democrats “once and for all must reject the corporate wing of the party” and “embrace” its truly diverse composition.
Moreover, Sanders emphasized the necessity of Democrats embracing the working class of this country, adding that “it should be deeply worrying” that support is declining in Latino and black communities. “Democrats must make support clear for a disappearing middle class, and a struggling working class.” They must “reject austerity economics, and understand that with new innovative tech, we now have the ability to produce a decent standard of living for every man woman and child in this country.”
Senator Sanders then shifted his rhetoric to praise for the Biden Administration's accomplishments over the past three years.
“The Biden Administration has rebuilt manufacturing,” creating new jobs across the nation; President Biden has also “taken on the pharmaceutical industry,” worked to reduce inflation, and “created an Administration that actually looks like America in its diversity.”
Despite the successes of Biden’s presidency, Sanders acknowledged the amount of work still needed in producing a better America.
“Tens of millions of Americans live in pain and despair,” he stated. He continued by citing President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, admiring the late politician for what he managed to accomplish during extremely turbulent times such as the Great Depression and Second World War: “FDR took the opportunity to not solely take pride in his accomplishments, but also address what still needed to be done…We must shift our focus not to adding to the abundance of those who have many,” but rather granting necessities to those “with little.”
Acknowledging this room to grow, Sanders moved on to address poor conditions in labor. “Our working conditions have worsened as innovation has advanced and productivity has skyrocketed.” He continued, denouncing the generational disparities in insurance, retirement funds, and healthcare costs that leave many people in dire financial straits. “Nearly 600,000 Americans are homeless.”
Additionally, according to the Senator, the quality of educational systems has lagged behind many countries; teachers make embarrassingly low salaries, and many are drowning in student debt. “We have more concentration of ownership than ever before,” leaving vulnerable institutions, like the education system, in trouble.
Furthermore, Sanders addressed a declining life expectancy rate in many parts of the country due to alcoholism, the drug epidemic, and suicide. “We suffer from sexism, racism, and homophobia,” driving Americans against each other. As a result, trust is broken, putting our “political and constitutional systems in trouble.”
Sanders stated that “faith in our Democratic system is now so low; Americans have lost faith in democracy itself.”
So, how do we remedy a fractured system? According to the Senator, it is a lot easier to find problems than to solve them. In order to revitalize democracy in a divided nation, it is critical that we bring people together to “create a government that works for all, and not just the few.”
Sanders’ concluding message relied on “articulating the reality of Americans, and demanding accountability.” By addressing our failures alongside our successes, we can better take on fundamental issues plaguing this nation and deepening the partisan divide.
After his remarks concluded, Sanders briefly met with a group of Kevin B. Harrington Student Ambassadors and took a group photo outside.