Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Photo from https://www.donaldjtrump.com
As many have heard and seen, the upcoming U.S election is diverse and unique.
Bernie Sanders, a Democrat, is running on a much farther left-wing platform in terms of healthcare and immigration relative to past Democratic candidates; while Donald Trump, a Republican, wants to build a “great, great wall” and “get [illegal immigrants] out so fast [of the United States].”
The US Democratic party is similar to the Labour or Liberal Democratic Party in the UK. And the US Republican Party is most closely aligned with the UK Conservative Party in terms of economic ideology.
Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Photo from United States Mission Geneva Flickr
Hillary Clinton is the other Democrat running, and is she seen as a more moderate voice in the elections.
Thalia Bonas, an eighth grade student, said she would vote for Hillary Clinton as,“ she is the most sensible out of all [the candidates].”
On the Republican side of the election there are quite a few more people running. Donald Trump, a billionaire entrepreneur and businessman, is a more populist voice in the Republican field. He is a populist in that his policies are nationalist; as he wants to have a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
Marco Rubio is also running on the Republican side along with John Kasich, both political moderates relative to other Republican candidates.
Their competitor in vying for nomination is Ted Cruz, a Texas senator. He is considered to be running on a far right platform as he has “been proud to stand …..against Planned Parenthood.” Planned Parenthood is a government funded agency that performs abortions.
Despite there being more Republican presidential hopefuls and fewer Democratic runners, a recent survey sent to the ASL middle school shows the Democratic party taking the lead. Hillary Clinton has the most support with 46.6 percent and Bernie Sanders trailing at 16.1 percent. Donald Trump took 5.6% percent of the vote.
“I would want people to be advocating for the rights of LGBT people,” said Tanner Hatzmann, an eighth grader, on one of the reasons why he would vote for a Democratic candidate.
Hatzmann, however, does not represent ASL middle school students surveyed on why they would vote for a particular candidate.
Of those who responded, 27.7 percent said they would vote for a certain candidate for unspecified reasons. With this information, it suggests that middle school voters do not have mainstream voter interests. However, 14.5 percent said they would vote for their economic policies.
When middle school students were asked what influenced their choice of candidate, they came out with mixed answers. Many thought their parents influenced their decisions, but Hatzmann, supporting the Democratic side of the election said, “Moving here [from New York] I’ve gotten to experience much more of the world…. and their political strong points and weak points…. that it’s given me some of my views.”
Those who have been surveyed show that ASL’s politics are mix of mainstream and independent opinions. Many would want to vote for Hillary Clinton; however, their reasons for voting for certain candidates differentiate from average American voters.
