Opinion: America Needs a Millenial Leader

As President Trump’s first term comes to a close, Democrats are asking themselves, who should be the next president? With a crowed 2020 field, it is becoming more difficult to find the right candidate. For the increased divide in this country our next president needs to be a millennial with a nuanced mindset for increasingly important issues like climate change, abortion, immigration and gun rights.

Out of the 21 democratic candidates only three are under the age of 40. Some of the most progressive candidates are 50 and older. However the youngest candidate, and arguably the most progressive, is Pete Buttigieg. He is a 37 year old from South Bend, Indiana; a veteran from the war in Afghanistan, and a openly gay Christian. His policies are based on “building the kind of democracy and society that works for all of us.”

He has some more traditional liberal ideologies like health care for all, debt free college, improvement on the criminal justice system, closing the racial wage gap, equal pay for both genders, reproductive freedom, banning assault rifles and many more. His radical, more nuanced, ideas include abolishing the electoral college system and replacing it with a popular vote, and reforming the Supreme court.

The new president in 2020 needs to understand the perspective of one of the largest demographics: millennials and teenagers, in order to progress in the future. We need a young individual who understands what life in this generation is like. Yes, many of these candidates have more life experience and time in office than Buttigieg (Mayor Pete), he and other millennials have a different perspective on the world that older candidates do not understand, purely on the fact they that they are older.

A return to normalcy, as many suggest front runner Joe Biden will do, is not good for the country. Normal in America is not a country that benefits every citizen. America needs a leader who will push boundaries will help ordinary people, not just the one percent. A millennial leader will have a different perspective on issues that have plagued our country for generations like gun violence and climate change. Americans 30 and under have experienced a world where school shootings are so common they don’t stay in the news cycle for more than a few hours. Normal is not good enough, we need to do better.

“The new leader doesn’t necessarily need to be someone young in age, but aware of what the youth needs,” says Jarline Almonte, a Frank Sinatra School of the Arts senior and 2020 voter. “If they don’t understand the perspective of the people they will lead in the future they won’t do well. As a president you’re not just a president for right now you’re making decisions for people that come after you.”

People 18-25 have felt under represented in politics for a long time, and most agree the next president needs to understand the hardships we face currently, and the hardships that will be passed on because of the ineptitude of past presidents.

The world needs to change, in order to spark that change, America needs to make a stand. A progressive, millennial leader will create policies that will unite and improve society.

– by Marina Breger ’19