Why young Democrats love Sanders and really don’t like Clinton | McClatchy Washington Bureau

. To voters under 30, Bernie Sanders is one of them.

Forget Hillary Clinton. “She’s a corporate sellout,” said Emmy Ham, a senior international affairs and anthropology major at the University of New Hampshire.

And forget the notion that young women are eager to see Clinton president because of her gender. “There will be other opportunities for me to vote for a woman for president,” Ham said.

Sanders has surged among young people as few candidates have since the U.S. senator from Vermont was a college student in the turbulent 1960s. Sanders, 74, topped Clinton 84-14 among Democrats 29 and younger in Iowa’s Monday caucus. He’s got a 3-1 lead among those aged 18-29 in the latest NBCNews/WSJ-Marist New Hampshire poll.

Sanders has two important traits common to younger voters: He’s new and he won’t compromise his ideals.

Young voters see Clinton as part of another era. She’s been in the national spotlight 24 years, before most young people were born. “She’s been there their entire life, and she’s yesterday’s news,” said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. “But no one knew who Bernie Sanders was until recently.”

In Sanders they see someone who stubbornly follows his own path. He pitches higher taxes and universal health care, initiatives long derided as woefully incompatible with Washington’s incremental, cautious ways of proceeding. He won’t take corporate contributions, and unapologetically promotes himself as a democratic socialist

That’s not unlike the thinking of a young person, full of energy and confidence they can shove aside all those boulders of political resistance and end up changing the world. They see Sanders helping them fulfill those dreams, and they’re fascinated.

“He owns himself,” said Jacob Moss, a senior geography major at UNH. “He follows his own moral compass.”

And he follows it with the same uninhibited fervor as a college student.

“Hillary is a good candidate, but Bernie has more passion,” said Megan Roche, a sophomore English major at UNH.

Clinton’s forces insist she has appeal to younger voters. “She loves talking to young people,” said Joel Benenson, Clinton’s pollster. Her supporters note she’s built her career working with younger people on a host of issues, such as easing the cost of college and women’s rights.

When Clinton campaigned door to door in Manchester Saturday, students from Saint Anselm College were waiting for her. “She’s the first person to say women’s rights are human rights,” said Emily Rice, a student from Saint Anselm College.

But she acknowledged that most young people she knows are Sanders backers. “People our age are very angry,” Rice said. “They don’t see a path forward, and Sanders has tapped into that.”

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That’s easy to see on the University of New Hampshire campus. A Sanders for president table outside the food court in the Memorial Union building has constant traffic. “Feel the Bern” T-shirts are a popular fashion item. Fifteen traveled 37 miles to Concord at 12:30 A.M. Tuesday to await Sanders’ arrival from Iowa, and found students from other campuses waiting in a parking lot.

There’s no evidence of much, if any Clinton support There’s no table outside the food court and editors at the student newspaper were unaware of any organized effort.

The Sanders allure runs deep, fueled by several factors.

Students appreciate his views on the military. They see Clinton as part of the Obama administration team that’s had trouble controlling terrorism, and some cite her 2002 vote to authorize the war in Iraq. Clinton last week reiterated that vote was a mistake.

“I don’t support all-out war in the Middle East, and I do believe there’s a better chance that could happen with Clinton,” said Jacob Compagna, a freshman classic major.

Many of these students grew up in homes where parents came of age during or just after the Vietnam War. That means they protested, or were reluctant to back, mass American involvement. Emma Booth, a junior women’s studies major, said her parents are pacifists, helping drive her into Sanders’ camp.

Sanders also has a huge weapon that helps endear him to young voters – his plan to make public colleges and universities tuition free.

Gabrielle Greaves, a sophomore English major, has a brother entering college soon. Her family, she said, is “going to need a lot more money in the next two years.”

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Clinton has a detailed program to help with tuition, largely by reducing interest rates on college loans. Not enough, said Greaves, explaining, “She just wants to pick up where Obama has failed.”

Who would pay for Sanders’ plans? “Top 1 percent,” said Tim Pearson, a sophomore women’s studies major. Sanders would raise the current top income tax rate, 39.6 percent, to 52 percent. The Tax Foundation found that overall, Sanders’ proposed tax increases would raise $13.6 trillion over the next 10 years.

To young people, his willingness to shift the tax burden is another example of a gutsy approach. “I’ve never agreed with any politician as much in my life,” said Quincy Abramson, a freshman communications major.

Students feel empowered. Athena Valkanos contributes $3 a month to Sanders effort. She proudly notes that the average contribution nationwide during the last three months of 2015 was $27.16.

Not even the prospect of the first woman president deters the young voters. “Feminism is the belief in equality,” said Sarah King-Mayes, a freshmen who hasn’t chosen a major.

They grew up seeing women in powerful roles. “All my professors are women,” said Madeline Clemons, a sophomore nursing major.

The challenge for Sanders is to harness this energy at the polls, and that can prove difficult. Young people historically don’t turn out in big numbers. They often don’t feel the same self-interest as older voters with mortgages, debt and health care challenges.

And they see politics as ultimately frustrating them. They turned out for President Barack Obama in big numbers eight years ago, and many were disillusioned four years later. “People see polarization, so they get reluctant,” said Ham.

There is hope. Eleven percent of 17-to-29 year olds participated in the Iowa caucus, down from 2008’s 14 percent, but enough to make a difference.

Reported CIRCLE, which studies youth voter trends, “Young people appear to be at least one of the keys to the very close Democratic results in Iowa.”