Three seniors weigh in on upcoming election

Hailee Dalgleish

In three weeks, Americans will vote in the most controversial and, arguably, most important election of our lifetimes. On the brink of such a historic event, I remain confident in my opinion that Joe Biden is the best candidate to lead our country into the decade.

Biden is the most qualified candidate for the job: he has a degree in law from the University of Syracuse, worked as a public defender and started his own law firm before serving in the senate for over 35 years and eventually as Vice President.

Facing what scientists are calling the last years possible to enact change before the damage done to our planet due to climate change is irreversible, Joe Biden is committed to reinstating the US in The Paris Climate Accord and limiting our country’s carbon production.

Joe Biden’s belief in scientists has proved him a capable leader throughout this pandemic, when the current administration’s lack of a coordinated response has cost over 200,000 American lives. Seeing the reality faced by many people around me contracting the disease, I feel more confident in Biden’s ability to handle the pandemic. He created a branch dedicated to pandemic response during his time in office with Obama and has supported a national mask mandate under the guidance of doctors nationwide.

At a time of extreme racial unrest under a president who refuses to condemn white supremacy, Biden will serve as an ally to the Black community: helping them secure small business and first time home buyers loans and tax credits, legislating for a free two years of community college and free tuition to public schools and universities for families earning incomes under $125,000, etc.

Throughout the past four years, the country has been outraged at Trump’s immigration policies and the unhealthy condition of containment camps along our nation’s border. Biden has promised he will overturn policies that separate families at the border and reinstate the DACA program, offering immigrants the chance that they deserve to better their lives.

As a woman, I fear for the fundamental rights regarding my body if Trump remains president. Biden has sworn to protect Roe v. Wade and remains committed to fighting for gender equality, beginning with his Vice Presidential choice in Kamala Harris and through his efforts to obtain equal pay and access to paid leave and childcare.

Ella Rudkin

The choice between the two candidates is quite difficult. For me, I support the current President and his choice of re-election. This decision comes with research and my general perspective of the world now compared to 2008-2016. I support Donald Trump because of the booming economy and the nation is finally starting to become secure.

Over the past four years, Donald Trump has run this country like a business. His ideas of staying American and lowering prices of goods, like gas, keep me intrigued. During the Obama administration, gas prices rose to almost four dollars a gallon. My Honda CR-V, has a fourteen gallon tank. If I were driving during the Obama administration, I would pay about fifty-six dollars for gas. In recent years, (2018-present) the most I have paid for a full tank of gas is about twenty-five to thirty dollars. That is almost half the previous price of gasoline. Trump is saving us money everyday. The Trump administration focuses on cutting taxes, cutting healthcare prices, and more. Besides these benefits of saving money, the Trump administration has had the lowest unemployment rate America has seen in 50 years. Trump has created more jobs for our country then any president has in the past half decade. Trump’s economy and determination to make jobs and save citizens money, pulls me to support him in re-election.

Within the last month or two, Donald Trump has kept his promise and “Vision for Peace.” On September 15, 2020, Trump signed a Peace Treaty between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This presentation of peace keeps promises and protects our borders.

The Trump administration has my support for re-election because of it’s outstanding effect on the economy and promises of peace for our future.

Jake Radcliffe

Good news! We don’t have to choose the lesser of two evils. We don’t have to settle for the abysmal status quo. Rather, there is a third, far more competent option. This is, of course, Libertarian candidate Dr. Jo Jorgensen. See, Trump and Biden are simply two sides of the same coin. They both have long histories of terrible decisions, corruption, and morally apprehensive behaviors. On top of that, they both have an unwavering commitment to expanding the federal government and increasing the power of the state over its citizens. This is simply and absolutely unacceptable.

So what’s the alternative? Dr. Jorgensen and her running mate, Spike Cohen, are consistent with the Libertarian platform. American Libertarianism is about combining the economic freedoms of the right with the social freedoms of the left, all while reducing the size of the government. This means a free market, not burdened by excessive and counterproductive economic regulation, as well as a commitment to defending individual liberties and natural rights. In practice, this means ending the failed war on drugs, ending government subsidies for coal and gas, slashing government spending and borrowing, defending minority and LGBTQ rights, removing trade barriers, defending our constitutional rights, demilitarizing the police, reducing taxes, decentralizing education, and bringing the troops home.

Nearly every time I mention Dr. Jorgensen’s campaign, I am met with this. “Sure they seem great, but it’s a wasted vote!” But there is no such thing as a wasted vote, unless of course you don’t vote at all. First of all, there’s a realistic chance of getting Jorgensen to 5% of the popular vote. This would get Libertarians more federal recognition and potential funding. It also gets us closer to third party debate inclusion and maybe even a ranked choice voting system. Besides, no matter who wins between Trump and Biden, we will just get even more polarizing candidates in 2024. Picking one of them now is only a temporary solution, and does nothing to fix the system that creates men like Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

If nothing else, a vote for JoJ2020 is a protest against the two party system that has so long corrupted our democracy. This is why I am proudly voting for Jo Jorgensen come November 3rd.