I'm not disagreeing with any of your points, the 10k forgiveness policy is strictly a way to appeal to young voters. But you clearly didn't read the article.

The article is about changes to the income-based repayment program, which was a big change that was part of the same bill. And frankly it doesn't get enough attention for how much of a long-term impact that it'll have on future borrowers, as opposed to the (tentatively) one-time forgiveness that affects mostly college graduates.