Election 2016: A Country Divided

Results+of+our+student+Google+poll.

Results of our student Google poll.

Jack Parker, Contributer
October 26, 2016

 

Student Comments

Students participating in the election poll were asked, “Why would you select this candidate for president?”  Here are some of their responses:

  • “[Trump is] our only hope for the American people. Hillary Clinton is terribly corrupt and is for Wall Street, and let’s face she’ll start a war with Russia. He’s the only one with a chance of beating that corrupt woman who did and continues to do horrible things and lies. I wish I could vote.”
  • “Trump is a crazy sexist, racist homophobe. Hillary is actually qualified.”
  • “Due to my opinions, based off my morals and my beliefs, his views line up best on certain topics such as abortion.”
  • “I believe in peace more than war and that’s what Hillary Clinton offers. In addition to that, she is a very influential women of power who could lead this country to better themselves.”
  • “I mean, let’s be honest, both primary candidates are pretty awful. Yet, I would certainly choose Trump over Clinton any day because he does not support abortion. I would never vote for someone who votes for abortion because it is ruining lives.”
  • “If Trump is president, we’re doomed.”
  • “Because even though [Trump] isn’t a true politician and his past actions are questionable, he’s a man that fights for what he wants and I think he truly want to fix America and make it a safer, better, more stable place.”
  • “Aleppo? Oh.”
  • “[Gary Johnson] He isn’t Trump or Hillary.”
  • “[Trump] will lower and almost expunge illegal immigration. He will lower taxes across the board. He is going to make our economy thrive again. He is going to put Hillary in prison where that murdering lying you know what belongs. He will make race relations better along with the whole entire country. He’s not a politician which means he is not controlled by anybody! He does his own thing and he’s not afraid to do so. Listen to his interviews from the early 2000’s 90’s and 80’s. he’s been saying the same thing since then. Hillary on the other hand has said 30 different things, changed her mind from one day to the next, got 4 Americans and the US ambassador murdered in Benghazi.”
  • “[Hillary] Because she is more experienced that Donald Trump and would handle herself better on the world stage.”
  • “[Johnson] Because it’s not Hillary or Trump.
  • “[Stein] Honestly these are all awful candidates so I just chose a random one.”
  • “I would vote for her because Hillary and Donald are garbage and Jill Stein is the closest thing to not voting at all.]
  • “Because [Trump] isn’t crooked. And is very intelligent. He also supported the second amendment.”
  • “[Hillary] Because I’m not a racist or a misogynist.”
  • “[Hillary] Because I’m female and how could any female vote for Trump?”

The 2016 presidential election has certainly become one that will be remembered by all who experienced everything it has had to offer.  On Nov. 8 the 45th president of the United States will be chosen by the American people.  

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have spent the majority of the last two years preparing and campaigning and it has all led up to the fateful Tuesday in November.  Hillary Clinton’s campaign has centered around typical Democratic interests such as education, fair tax policy, and equal rights for all.  On the contrary,  Donald Trump’s campaign has been focused mainly on key points such as immigration, healthcare reform, and the creation of a dynamic economy.  

Many American’s are expressing quite greatly whom they side with in this election but some have yet to decide a candidate to vote for.  Senior, Alex Jay said he feels the election has been “disappointing up to this point due to the candidates immaturity and inability to talk about national issues.”  

This has been an issue that many Americans have had with this election as Trump and Clinton have both struggled with resisting the urge to bash the opposing candidate at any chance they are given.  This has brought negative media attention towards the election.  Senior Josh Sulz states that, “Due to her past and issues surrounding [Clinton], I side with Donald Trump.”  Whereas senior Jon Solberg said that due to Trump’s antics so far in this election that he would side with Hillary Clinton.  

Needless to say this year’s election has sparked a lot of controversy over the two candidates and will be the talk of the country as election day draws near.  The GM student body was polled on who they would vote for in the presidential election.  It is important to note that this poll is not statistically reliable, but was intended to obtain a somewhat reasonable idea of the political opinions of our students.  

Just over 50 percent of our student body cast their vote, and our winner was Hillary Clinton.  The race was very tight however.  Clinton received 34.8 percent of the vote, and Donald Trump received 30.2 percent of the vote.  Surprisingly Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson received 32.6 percent of the vote. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate rounded out the voting with 2.4 percent of the vote.