During his campaign stop in Lincoln on Thursday, March 3, 2016, KMTV's Emily Szink sat down with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for a one-on-one interview.
How do you win Nebraska?
“By getting more votes than my opponent. We’re working very hard on it. We’ve got a great organization here. We do a lot of door-to-door work. Here today, we’ve got, apparently, a very good turnout out there. We think we have a good shot to win.”
Why do you think you have so many young supporters?
“I think for a couple of reasons. No. 1, they’re idealistic. That’s what happens when you’re young. You look at this country and you say, ‘Why do we have an economy that is so unfair? That the rich get richer and everybody else gets poorer.’ Why aren’t we dealing with climate change? Why aren’t we dealing with pay inequities, with women making 79 cents on the dollar compared to men. Why aren’t we dealing with climate change? They worry about the future of this planet. And the second issue is kind of more personal to them. They’re going to leave school – you asked me about free tuition at public colleges and universities – They’re going to leave, you know, what many of these students are going to leave school 30, 40 50,000 in debt. They're going to be paying off that debt for decades. And they're asking me why is it that they have to go deeply in debt. Why do we have to be punished? What crime did we commit to get a college degree or go to graduate school - is that really a crime we're going to have to be paying for for decades? So it's personal for them. But it is also idealistic. Those are the reasons why I think we're doing so well.
Do you think you will win Nebraska?
"I think we've got a shot. When I say in every election, and I think it' born truth, is if there is a large voter turnout - There was a record breaking voter turnout in Colorado and in Minnesota - We won those states by, I don't know, 19 or 20 points, landslide victories. In Nebraska, the turnout, not Nebraska, in Nevada, the turnout was not great and we lost by 5 points. So I think if there is a large turnout here in Nebraska, yeah, I do think we'll win. If turnout is small, we'll be struggling."
Why choose Symone Sanders, an Omaha native, as your press secretary?
"She interviewed for the job and she impressed us. She has done a great job for us. I think she' going to be here tomorrow, in Omaha. But she got the job because of her qualifications."
