Both the Democrats and Republicans Want Radical Change: Readers on the New Hampshire Primary


Bernie Sanders on the night of the New Hampshire primary.

Readers dissected the influence of gender, generation and political agenda in response to recent columns and editorials about Senator Bernie Sanders’s lopsided victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary.

“People are tired of old saws, they hate the establishment with a passion, they are fed up with the lack of attention to our borders,” Stephen Light of Grand  Marais, Minn., wrote in response to an editorial. “There is one message that Hillary must understand — both the Democrats and Republicans want radical change.”

Many readers noted that Mr. Sanders prevailed among almost every demographic group in the Democratic race. Others said Mr. Sanders’s strength among independent voters is important.

“It is Bernie who attracts the independents, not Hillary,” Maro wrote from Massachusetts. “The goal posts have been moved in the current election cycle. Income inequality and independence from corporate interest have become the two most significant signature issues for the voters in Democratic primaries.”

Women reflected on the symbolism of Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy. To some, the prospect of having a longtime feminist elected to the White House carries a powerful promise of change.

“The glass ceiling still exists and electing Hillary will finally shatter it. She is the smartest and most experienced presidential candidate in the race today and she is a woman,” Karen Kucinski wrote on Facebook. “Elect Hillary precisely because she is a woman — this country needs a woman’s perspective and leadership style to thrive.”
“I am a woman in my 30s, currently pregnant, desperately aware of how much gender has affected and will continue to affect my career compared to my partner’s. I am surrounded by women with everyday stories about injustice and abortions that fully equip us to understand the lived reality of sexism,” PHD wrote from California. “I want my daughter to grow up in a fairer world. And yet all of this does not compel me to vote for Hillary, nor should it compel older women to command that I do so from a perch of assumed intellectual and ethical superiority.”

Some women wrote that they had experienced overt discrimination in the same era as Mrs. Clinton, but their history did not make them want to vote for her.

“I once had to go to a business lunch through the kitchen, because women weren’t allowed to enter by the front door. I was told that ‘of course’ my work would decline during pregnancy, and when on maternity leave, they replaced me with a man,” Karen wrote from Boston. “This was Wall Street in the 70s and 80s. And you know what? I’m voting for Bernie.”

Some wrote of a deep distrust of Mrs. Clinton, documented in poll results, that they see around them.

“I live in Texas and Republicans hate, hate Hillary Clinton. She has little chance of winning over voters from the other side,” Kane wrote from Houston. “Bernie Sanders did very well with the 40 percent of New Hampshire residents who declared themselves independents.”

A national anti-establishment mood is changing politics, many readers said.

“I myself am very, very angry at what this country has become since Reagan’s voodoo economics started the downward slide of the middle class,” Maryse wrote from Mystic Island, N.J., in response to an op-ed by Jennifer Finney Boylan. “The political system is rigged. Who wouldn’t be angry?”

Some readers said that Democrats need to stress unity in the end, even as candidates compete for primary votes.


“For the sake of the party and to improve the tenor of the ongoing debate, I sincerely hope Clinton reboots her campaign by focusing less on her biography and more on substantive policy proposals,” Jean wrote. “At the end of the day, I will vote Democratic, but I remain a solid, feminist supporter of Sanders.”

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