By Jason Wilson
Election season, one of the most exciting times in the country. With Iowa, and New Hampshire already out of the way this excitement of selecting the next president is not letting up, and it is very clear that the youth vote holds a lot of weight this time around. Which has many wondering, who do the students of FCC support as a presidential candidate?
The Commuter sat down with 10 students for an informal interview on who they support for president, the results were as follows; Bernie Sanders with five supporters. Donald Trump with two supporters. Ben Carson with only one. And, two students who remain unsupportive of any of the candidates. But, why do these people support who they do?
“I like the fact that he is focused on bettering our country before others,” said Patrick Guilday, FCC student and supporter of Bernie Sanders. He also went on to say that his top issue when looking at a candidate would be their stance on fixing “the corrupt economics against the average American.”
When talking to FCC student Nick Geraghty about why he supported Sanders he said, “I like his economic policies.” Gerhety also went on to state, that when looking at a candidate, economic policies were his number one priority issue when looking at who to vote for.
The Commuter sat down with another supporter of Sanders, Deanna, who spoke very passionately of the Sanders campaign, the registered democrat referred to Sanders policies as a “political revolution” and was very excited when talking about how his policies are “fair for everyone.” Judging by the expression on her face and her tone of voice, she seemed very passionate and hopeful for her favorite candidate.
Connor Sheedy and Giancarlo Sulmonte they both said that they have no plans to vote in the coming elections, primary or general. They both held similar stances in conveying the message that they support no current candidates on the ballot and do not plan to vote for anyone.
Brandon Ridgley, a registered republican and current student at FCC was very adamant in supporting his candidate, Donald Trump. “He is unscripted, speaks his mind, and isn’t your typical politician. He can make money and his promises seem very reasonable,” Ridgley said when describing why he supports Trump.
When asked what the number one issue is for a candidate to address, “The exact opposite of the liberal agenda,” replied Ridgley.
Only one other candidate was represented in this survey of the student population, and that man was Dr. Ben Carson. When asking the student, who wishes to remain anonymous.
“He has faith in the American people. And, although it isn’t in politics he has a proven record of hard work as a neurosurgeon,” replied the student when asked why he supports Carson.
This gentlemen’s number one issue, happens to be, wage equality for women and LGBTQ community rights.
After collecting this data one common theme kept occurring, and that to me was economics. Each person who supported someone in the running, regardless of who it was, seemed to touch on some level of economics in their answers to a question. While it may not be clear who the student body as a whole supports for president, as a sample size of 10 students cannot accurately reflect that. I would say that it is a fair statement to say that economic policies will be the key to win the vote of the student body at Frederick Community College.
