If Hillary gets Berned in Iowa, will she offer more ‘free’ proposals?

The 2016 primary process begins today with the Iowa Caucus. While the Republican field remains deep and competitive, the Democrats have only two realistic choices: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. The candidates have been working hard to secure as many voting blocs as possible, including the ever-elusive youth vote.

The Sanders and Clinton camps have been doing everything in their power to target young voters. The Sanders campaign attempted to connect to the youth vote through song. Curiously though, he chose the 1968 Simon and Garfunkel song “America,” as his anthem, in an effort to speak to young voters born as late as 1998. And then there was that time Bernie danced with Ellen and talked about his experience with handcuffs, which… I have to admit I actually enjoyed.

Not to be outdone, Hillary Clinton tried to connect with America’s youth by tweeting a request for students and recent graduates to explain how their student loan debt makes them feel in “3 emojis or less.” Oh, and let’s not forget when “Chillary Clinton” herself took to snapchat to let us know she was “just chillin’ in Cedar Rapids.”

Despite these various attempts — ranging from misguided to just plain sad, neither candidate has a firm lock on the youth bloc thus far. Both candidates are following a similar approach however in using student debt as a bargaining chip. Sanders’ plan would make public colleges and universities tuition free. Clinton, on the other hand, is advocating for the increased availability of grants, income-based repayments, and other assistance in an effort to ensure debt-free education.

Is it possible that these plans are the sincerely held beliefs of the candidates? Possibly. In fact, in the case of Bernie Sanders, it’s probable. After all, he is a self-proclaimed socialist. Hillary Clinton, however, is a different story. After all, she does have a tendency to evolve on issues when it’s politically convenient for her. Will that happen with student debt? Only time will tell, but Sanders continues to rise in the polls (especially with young voters), and challenge a nomination that Clinton surely believed would be hers without protest. Just this week, The Hill published a piece encouraging Clinton to rethink her student loan platform in order to prevent a repeat of her surprise 2008 primary loss. Both of these plans, of course, are flawed appeals to the tendency of voters to focus on their immediate personal benefit without regard to the disastrous long-term effects.