Bernie,
Of course this is a total moonshot, but if somehow you see this:
Speaking on behalf of a younger segment of the population (I'm 26), I suspect that your message has more resonance with the young vote than you might think. Regardless of party affiliation, my generation's political discourse has a very strong undercurrent of nonpartisan animosity for the blatant corruption that taints both sides of the aisle, corruption that has left our progress as a nation at a standstill while moneyed interests steer elected officials into dark, dangerous waters by their pocketbooks and campaign accounts.
Rarely do I find a person my age whose political outlook does not ultimately culminate with outrage at the state of politics in America today. Though their ideas about how to fix the problems may differ wildly, almost all of my conversations with people of both parties end in agreement: money has broken politics to the benefit of the wealthy, and the rest of us have been left to deal with the billing. Even acquaintances too apathetic and disillusioned to vote will gripe to me about the hypocrisy of establishment politicians and their false promises.
You might have a little trouble finding us at election rallies, though. We tend to be pretty busy as a rule. Money is tight, especially for those of us who finished school in 2011, right as the job market really started to squeeze wages to a trickle. Adapting meant taking part-time and temporary positions, working odd hours to make better pay, long shifts in service industries, and for many it meant realizing that the degree they just finished was not likely to help them find a decent job and the peace of mind that goes with it. But just because we're busy, focused on financial survival, and unlikely to put down the pieces of our lives to attend a Town Hall, doesn't mean we're not listening. Because in what hours we have to ourselves, many of us are devouring information at a breakneck speed: many of us are, after all, the first early-age adopters of the internet.
You want grassroots? We can give you grassroots. But you'll have to meet us here, on our grass. We can't come to you in the traditional ways, not when right-to-work laws and termination clauses hover over our meager earnings, threatening to cut us out and replace us with the next temp worker in line at the drop of a hat. But we can absolutely hear you when you say the power in politics must be returned to the people's hands and benefit the good of the whole, not just the few.
A lot of us are with you, Bernie. You just have to reach out to us.
Anybody who wants to use this letter for their own purposes or the purposes of campaigning or viral marketing, go ahead: consider its contents free to any who want to use it. I only request that you not alter the original message. Seeing my words have an impact in such a way would be heartening, even if I wasn't involved in its dissemination.
The viral movement would be to get everyone to send this message to him via text, email, social media so he could truly see how many of us are out here. I'll copy and paste this and send it to him. We all should!
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