Analysis A threat ahead: California Democrats losing the fight for younger voters

[leftcoastmountains]

The state Democratic Party convention held here over the weekend presented an occasionally jarring contrast: Democrats gathered at what seemed like a 50th college reunion for veteran politicians, and at the same time one of the biggest rounds of applause came at the mention of Bernie Sanders, the presidential candidate few of those politicians support.

Eric Swalwell, 35, the East Bay congressman who organized the panel, said the strong support for Sanders in the presidential contest was a warning to the party’s older establishment.

“Regardless of whether you’re with Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, there’s no question that right how Bernie Sanders has the overwhelming majority of the millennials,” said Swalwell, who endorsed Clinton after his first choice, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, dropped out. “Whoever is the candidate, as a party we have to understand why that is the case.”

Why that’s the case is the candidates themselves. To young voters for whom she has been a life-long presence, Clinton looks like a captive of establishment politics. Sanders, with his call to “political revolution,” is the blunt-speaking fresh face.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-democrats-young-voters-20160229-story.html