By Caroline Urbanek ‘17
Staff Writer
With the New Hampshire primary behind us, the rest of the country only has a few more weeks to decide who will be representing their parties in November’s U.S. presidential election. The following primaries will determine which of the six Republican and two Democratic candidates will find their names on the ballot come November. The Massachusetts primary is taking place on March 1st, and our campus is buzzing with political chatter.
For the Democrats, the candidates are former New York Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. On the Republican side, it’s businessman Donald Trump, neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been toying with the idea of a run as an independent.
“It’s an interesting election with two extremes, Trump and Sanders,” Katherine Lawless explains. Though she is not crazy about any of the candidates, she plans on filling in the circle accompanying Kasich’s name in March. “It’s refreshing to have a guy like Kasich as president because he seems like a normal and genuine person. I respect that he runs a positive campaign, unlike much of his competition.”
Paul Buckley also plans on voting for Kasich, and encourages students to vote. He advises his peers to “Make informed political decisions. Do your research and find a candidate you actually align with instead of blindly tossing support at whoever is popular.”
Zach Hesketh, Alex Boutin, and Kate Culverhouse all plan on giving Rubio their votes. Culverhouse, a senior studying Human Development and Elementary Education, supports Rubio’s view on the field that she will soon be entering.
“One of the biggest deciding factors for me is centered around a candidate’s stance on education and the Common Core,” Culverhouse explains. “Rubio is strongly against it and plans to issue an executive order to repeal it on his first day in office.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Molly Malinowski is a registered Democrat, yet recently has tended to see herself as more of an Independent voter.
“I am honestly not sure about who I am voting for at the moment,” Malinowski answered when asked about her preference. “It’s been a tough decision, and I am trying to make sure I stay educated on candidate’s stances and try not to play into some of the dirty politics that can be really disruptive to the core of candidacy.”
Malinowski will be voting via absentee ballot this year, and encourages others to do so based on its ease.
Brittany Shambo, an Independent voter, is looking forward to voting in the primary as well. She hopes that “our next president, whoever it ends up being, has a positive impact and helps to get our country back on its feet again.”
