With our next presidential election rolling around, social media is being overrun with memes, videos of debates, and opinionated people dumping their political views on their innocent friends’ newsfeeds. As someone who has never had much interest in politics aside from the occasional gun control/abortion heated conversation, I honestly don’t know much about the 2016 presidential candidates or what they stand for. However, as eligible voters for the next president of our nation, it’s important that we all have the information necessary to make informed votes that we can support. There’s much more to each of these candidates than is written here, but these are some of the primary viewpoints of the candidates running for presidency.
THE DEMOCRATS
Hillary Clinton
As former secretary of state, first lady, and senator, there’s no doubt that Hillary Clinton can hold her own against all of these male candidates. Expectedly so, Clinton is a major supporter of women’s rights, as well as the necessity for general healthcare across the country. Clinton believes that community college should be tuition-free and that a college-tuition plan should be implemented so students would not have to take out loans to attend a four-year public university. Additionally, Clinton has always supported immigration, stating that if immigrants enter the U.S. illegally, they should be able to achieve U.S. citizenship after completing certain criteria such as learning English and paying taxes. As for the economy, Clinton wants to raise the federal minimum wage and encourage state governments to do the same. She supports immigration reform because she thinks it will boost the economy, as well as expand the workforce for women. Clinton also supports a women’s right to choose, and is in favor of same sex marriage.
Bernie Sanders
If elected as president, Sanders plans to reduce income and wealth inequality by increasing minimum wage, providing job opportunities for at least 13 million Americans, making tuition free at public colleges and universities and guaranteeing healthcare as a right of an American citizen. When discussing climate change, Sanders argues that it is a real and pressing issue, and has acknowledged that “climate change ravages our planet and our people – all because the wealthiest industry in the history of our planet has bribed politicians into ignoring science.” Sanders is pro-choice and believes the decision about abortion must remain a decision for the woman and her doctor to make, not the government. He plans on not defunding Planned Parenthood, but rather expanding it. Sanders also hopes to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act into law so women and men are paid equally, and plans to increase employment and educational opportunities for persons with disabilities while continuing to fight for their equal rights. Sanders believes that war should be the last resort, that we should pull the troops out of Afghanistan and believes that “the invasion in Iraq was one of the worst foreign policy blunders in modern U.S. history.”
WHAT’S DIFFERENT BETWEEN HILLARY AND BERNIE?
When reading the standpoints of each candidate, it can seem like the opinions of Clinton and Sanders are very similar, which they are. But there are some major points in which the two democratic candidates differ in opinion. For one, Bernie attacks the rich and wants to break down their powers, whereas Hillary wants to get the wealthy on her side and win their support because she acknowledges how important money is to running our country successfully. Additionally, Hillary is more aggressive when it comes to foreign policy than Bernie, and even most other democrats – she pushed for a surge of troops into Afghanistan and voted in favor of the Iraq War, while Bernie voted against it. Bernie calls for large increases in government spending, such as paying for college tuition, whereas Hillary says that increasing spending would result in the American people paying for it in different, less-obvious ways. Clinton has a stronger focus on gun control measures in her campaign than Sanders, who frequently votes against the Democratic efforts to restrict gun sales.
THE REPUBLICANS
Ben Carson
Ben Carson is an advocate for flexible block grants to the states in order to advance and reward teacher quality, as well as making tuition less expensive for students. Carson also supports the fact that America has welcomed people from differing countries looking for a chance at the American dream for centuries, but believes the immigration system is flawed. He plans to secure the border, implement sensible admission and removal procedures and solve the problem of the existing illegal immigrant population in the United States. Carson, a former pediatric neurosurgeon, is pro-life, and wants to defund Planned Parenthood because he believes that “as a society, we have allowed our sensitivities to be dulled and our disregard for the sanctity of life to grow” and he believes that Planned Parenthood is an organization that proves this point. To reform government spending, Carson plans to streamline our government, scale back or eliminate wasteful and inefficient programs, and reform health care and entitlement programs.
Ted Cruz
You might know Ted Cruz as the guy that looks like Kevin Malone from “The Office,” but he is actually a U.S. senator for Texas. Cruz advocates for pro-growth policies for the economy to create more opportunities, and a key component of his pro-growth agenda is the American Energy Renaissance Act which “empowers the private sector to create more jobs and remove federal impediments to exploration.” Cruz also believes that school choice gives students more opportunities, and opposes Common Core because he thinks education decisions should be made on the state and local level. Cruz introduced the American Energy Renaissance Act which encourages energy exploration to unleash full potential of America’s resources.
John Kasich
If John Kasich were to be elected president, he plans to defund Planned Parenthood. He is pro-life except for rape and incest circumstances, but voted to ban partial-birth abortions and transporting minors to get an abortion. Kasich believes education is a local responsibility that is not to be micromanaged by federal bureaucrats, and he wants to work to make college more affordable in order to prevent students from dropping out. He is a strong supporter of the right to bear arms, has been endorsed by the NRA, opposes Obama’s gun control efforts and wants to remove “burdensome” restrictions for law-abiding concealed carry licensees.
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio believes “the Second Amendment is about the American Dream” and having the opportunity to achieve happiness by raising a family in a home that is safe and secure. He says we need focus on why people are committing violent acts, not what they are using to commit them. Rubio also supports fixing America’s immigration system by securing our border, but “knows that enforcing immigration laws is not anti-immigrant.” If elected president he plans to deport criminal illegal aliens, finish all 700 miles of walls on our southern border, and hire 20,000 new border patrol agents. Rubio plans to harness our natural energy resources and undo what has been done by Obama and his Environmental Protection Agency.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump, infamous for his politically-incorrect comments and tendency to be more “honest” than might be appropriate, has many of the same opinions as the rest of the republican candidates. He supports the Second Amendment and says “its purpose is to guarantee our right to defend ourselves and our families.” As for immigration, we’ve all heard about the wall. Trump wants to build a larger wall along the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and make Mexico pay for it. He also wants to return all “criminal aliens” to their home countries, and make it essentially impossible for anyone outside of our country to become an American citizen. After being pro-choice in the past, Trump now calls himself pro-life and says he will defund Planned Parenthood if he were to be elected. However, he has showed support for the organization, acknowledging that “it has helped millions of women.”
THE GREEN PARTY
Jill Stein
As a member of the less-discussed Green Party, Jill Stein has a “Power to the People Plan,” which would create a change and “move from the greed and exploitation of corporate capitalism to a human-centered economy that puts people, planet and peace over profit.” Stein wants to transition to 100% clean renewable energy by 2030, creating millions of jobs in the process. Additionally, she wants to end police brutality, mass incarcerations and institutional racism within our justice system. If elected, she would also expand women’s rights and protect LGBT people from discrimination. Like other candidates, Stein wants to raise minimum wage, abolish student debt and tuition, and remove high stakes testing from our education system.
HOW TO VOTE
Election day for the next President of the United States is going to take place on November 8th, 2016. Between now and then, several more caucuses and debates are going to take place, and God knows how many more people Donald Trump is going to offend. If you are not yet registered to vote (like me), now is your chance! Every vote matters, and now that you know about each of the candidates, you have no excuse not to cast your vote and make your voice heard. Registration varies by state, but if you are a Washington state resident, you can register to vote at: https://register2.rockthevote.com/registrants/new/wa/.