by Dakota Antelman

Though he cannot vote for Bernie Sanders in the upcoming presidential election, sophomore Clement Doucette is working to persuade others to do so. 

Doucette recently used a tool on the Sanders campaign website to become a registered volunteer phone banker for the Vermont senator. He created an account with the campaign and read required training packets on how to campaign over the phone. In the weeks since he signed up, Doucette has made an estimated 15 phone calls to Iowa and New Hampshire homes on behalf of Sanders. He uses printed scripts, specific to the home state of the person he is calling, to speak with voters.

Doucette devotes time after school to calling voters, trying to ensure that his support for Sanders has an effect on voting day, even though he cannot cast a ballot himself.

“I wanted to sign up and be able to make a difference in some way,” Doucette says. “I wanted to spread the word about Bernie Sanders and get some more support out there for him.”

He has, however, struggled to get voters to answer his calls. Due to time differences between Massachusetts and Iowa, and a busy schedule, Doucette has been unable to call during optimal hours for voters. Furthermore, he understands how people on the other end of his call may be annoyed by continued campaigning.

“Especially in the states where there’s an upcoming caucus or primary, the people are probably getting sick of seeing all the ads and hearing all the callers,” he says.

Nevertheless, Doucette has long supported Bernie Sanders, who kicked off his presidential campaign in April, but only this fall began challenging Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton for votes in the upcoming primary elections.

“He’s the first presidential candidate who aligns with what I believe,” Doucette explains of Sanders. “He has a really strong economic policy that’s much better than the ones any of the other candidates have. He really advocates for common people. He’s not an advocate for big banks in Wall Street.”

His unabashed support has, however, drawn criticism from within Hudson High School.

“A lot of people I know are big Bernie supporters, but not a lot of them have actually decided to call. Also, I’ve gotten some backlash for my views from some of the kids who think that Bernie is too liberal. I’ve even heard people accuse him and me of being a communist. We are not,” Doucette says.

Doucette does not back down from his political beliefs, keeping with a love of politics that started young for him.

“I probably started [liking politics] around age 10,” he says. “My parents started showing me the Daily Show and the Colbert Report around that time. I really liked that. I thought they were great shows. It got me into watching the news a lot, too. That sort of fueled my interest in politics.”

For Doucette, being involved with politics as a citizen does not start when a citizen is first eligible to cast a ballot. He encourages ineligible voters to make their beliefs heard by being involved with the campaigns they support.

“Being a phone banker is a really good way to help out and support your favorite candidate,” he says. “Other than that, you can go door to door or spread flyers. Just go and talk about your candidate and why they’re a good person.”