A Sanders Voter, Weary of Debt at 29: 'I Have Nothing to Lose'

[Demovictory9]

MADISON, Wis. — Debt has dogged Brian Michelz his entire adult life.

It started with an ambulance ride when he was 18 and two hospital stays. Then came college loans. By the time Mr. Michelz made it out into the world, his credit score was so low he could not even get a credit card. He has paid for everything he has ever bought — televisions, furniture, cars — up front. After grocery shopping on Wednesday, his bank account had three dollars in it.

Mr. Michelz, 29, has never worn a political T-shirt or been to a campaign rally. But when he voted for the first time in his life, in the primary of 2016, it was for Bernie Sanders.

“I wouldn’t say I’m on the left, or a liberal progressive,” Mr. Michelz said in his apartment one morning last week, sitting next to his wife, Sarah Michelz, who had just come home from her work as a nurse. “I feel like Sanders understood — there’s too much medical debt and college debt. I was like, ‘OK, he’s speaking the truth.’”

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For voters like Mr. Michelz (pronounced Michaels), Mr. Sanders has inspired loyalty because he is the rare political leader who has both diagnosed the source of their problems and tried to offer solutions. Mr. Michelz is part of a generation scarred by the Great Recession. After borrowing more money for their education than their parents did, many are treading water in jobs that do not pay enough and delaying marriage and children.

Mr. Sanders’s message has resonated deeply with these voters. In the recent California primary, 47 percent of voters who said income inequality was their most important issue picked Mr. Sanders. Just 13 percent voted for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Mr. Michelz’s wife has debt, too, as do most of his friends. One is so anxious about it that he takes medication. The only ones who do not have debt come from families that can afford to help them.

Ms. Michelz, 30, borrowed around $100,000 for nursing school, and pays $800 every month, a sum that is more than half their rent in the small, tidy apartment on the southwestern edge of Madison. They both want children, but Ms. Michelz thinks they should wait.


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/us/bernie-sanders-voters.html