Max Bickley – General Assignment Reporter
For the past year, presidential candidates have been making speeches, rallying supporters, and making their way towards the party nomination and election in November of this year. However, when it comes down to it, only one candidate can be elected as the next president of the United States.
With this being the presidential election year, many students at Southern are throwing in their lots and picks for who will be the next President. One such student is Freshman Shane Maher, who is one of the hopeful Bernie Sanders supporters.
“I really would like Bernie to win the election,” said Maher. “He really seems to have a genuine drive to bring the middle class up, root out the corporate and big bank influences in politics. Not to mention I know he has a huge following with the millennials.”
Though Maher is a supporter of Candidate Sanders, there are some hesitations and acceptances that Maher makes.
“I really like Bernie, but honestly, whether or not he gets the nomination is the deciding factor,” said Maher. “If anything I think it will come down to Trump or Rubio on the Republican side, and unless Bernie pulls through in the next couple of months I don’t think he will get the nomination.”
Bernie Sanders is popularly known as the vote for the millennial generation, however, this opinion that due to the corporate support behind Hillary Clinton, and the DNC (Democratic National Committee) Bernie will not get the nomination is also a common opinion. However, there are also students like Dylan Gosselin share Maher’s look at the political potential in Sanders.
“Sanders would be my pick, if things were to work out,” said Gosselin. “However, with the type of support that Hillary is getting such as big corporate backing and the image of the first woman to be elected [if she is] also boosts her standing.”
While this is the case for Gosselin’s opinion, he also sees the election this year as something of a predicament.
“Honestly this election is a Catch 22. The Republican Party nominees are all being labeled as either fundamentalist, crazy like [Donald] Trump or [Ted]Cruz,” Gosselin said, “However on the other end of things you have a lot of people rooting for Bernie Sanders, and the institution supporting Clinton, but whoever goes up for the election will be a tough decision.”
Now, while this is the case for both Gosselin and Maher, there are some still some students of voting age who do not take much notice of the candidacy proceedings. James Brown, sophomore, is one such students who admits to not following the political going-ons.
“I honestly have not been paying close attention to what is going on with the debates or candidates,” said Brown. “I don’t know who will win the election.”
What students can be sure of is that it is possible to register to vote for the upcoming election through post, but also through online. For the upcoming election though, the caucuses and primaries are being conducted, and soon enough the time will come to cast votes to decide the next president.
Photo Credit: Matt Wade
