Presidential Candidates—Who should you support?

For over a year now, headlines have been scattered with reports and speculations on a very prevalent topic to U.S citizens; the election of our new President. This year’s election season has been a particularly interesting one, with lots of controversy over the candidates that are running. Some people have singled out a particular candidate they would vote for, while others are making claims that none of the candidates are actually qualified to run for office.

While both parties started out with ample amounts of candidates, the race has been narrowed down drastically. For the Democrat Party, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are the two candidates currently running for the party nomination. For the Republican Party, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Donald Trump are in the race for the Republican Party nomination.

Currently, the primaries are taking place in order to decide who will be running for these primaries. Several primaries have taken place already, though the results are not set in stone as we still have quite a few left. Currently taking the lead in popular votes and delegate votes are Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party, and Donald Trump for the Republican Party. Bernie Sanders is following closely behind Hillary Clinton, and there is still a chance he could gain the nomination. The same goes for Ted Cruz who has had a few wins in recent primaries.

While the candidates within the parties may have similar views, there are some noteworthy differences that may determine who you choose to support. For the Democrat Party, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton mainly agree on the same issues. They just have difference between technicalities. For instance, they both believe that the minimum wage should be changed in the U.S., though the amount that they wish it to be is different. Sander’s goal is to raise minimum wage to fifteen dollars, while Clinton believes it should only be raised to twelve dollars. While it may not seem like a big difference in policies, just those few dollars can have a big impact on our economy. Another big difference is that Clinton wants to leave Obamacare in place, while Sanders wants it to be replaced with a single-payer health care system. The final big difference on the two candidates is their stance on gun control. While they both support background checks when purchasing a gun, they have differing stances on the manufacturer’s responsibility for those guns. Hillary Clinton has supported legislation that allows the victims of gun violence to sue manufacturers. Bernie Sanders has strongly opposed said legislation in the past, and continues to oppose it.

The Republicans also have differing stances on issues that are prevalent to them. John Kasich is the only Republican Candidate who agrees that it should be legally required to hire women and minorities. He is also the only one that has a neutral stance on the subject of same-sex marriage. The others strongly disagree with it. Other than that, they all share similar views. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are the most likeminded when it comes to their stances on issues, but the severity of which they oppose it or support it does differ. Ted Cruz tends to have a stronger opposition to the topic of abortion than Donald Trump does, while Trump tends to have a stronger support of the idea that EPA regulations are too restrictive than Cruz does.

It will be very interesting to see who the public will choose to represent their parties in the coming presidential election. Best of luck to all the candidates, and the voters that are making this decision.