My take on the candidates

Citizens cast their votes at private polling booths. Michigan’s caucus is scheduled for March 8.
Citizens cast their votes at private polling booths. Michigan’s caucus is scheduled for March 8. Photo courtesy of MCT Campus

Voting is immensely important. Getting to the voting booth is the way you put in your two cents, even if you are picking the lesser of the two evils.

The best way to choose a candidate is to think about what is most important to you and read up on the candidates, watch the debates and spend time getting others’ perspectives. Good thing you picked up a paper today, because I have a treat for you. Here’s my brief perspective on the remaining, most relevant candidates.

Republicans:

Ben Carson – Right off the bat, I liked Carson. I went and saw him speak at Alma College before he announced his candidacy. After building himself up from very humble beginnings, Carson went on to become a neurosurgeon. Not an easy feat. Though Carson may have been the smartest guy on the stage, after the first debate it was easy to see he is not a talented politician. With little to no foreign policy experience, electing a neurosurgeon at a time in our country when safety from foreign enemies is at the top of the priority list is not a smart choice.

Ted Cruz – Ted Cruz has without a doubt the best grasp on the Constitution, which is important to me and many Americans. Though he may not have the best reputation as a team player with his fellow senators, he is branding himself as the trustworthy candidate. This tag is becoming a hard sell after revelations of “dirty tricks” to get Ben Carson’s votes at the Iowa caucus. Apparently his staff announced that Ben Carson had dropped out of the race before votes were cast, encouraging those who would’ve voted for Carson to vote for Cruz. Despite these hijinks, Cruz has my interest. Thomas Sowell, a renowned economist and author, has endorsed Cruz and that means a lot to me, considering I would probably trust my life with Sowell.

Marco Rubio – While every candidate would like to consider themselves “anti-establishment,” Rubio has me convinced that he actually is. Rubio’s experience as a senator for the state of Florida is huge considering he is on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Aside from the economy, foreign affairs is the issue I place the most importance on. Public-speaking wise, he could probably do better, but Rubio is someone I could see beating Hillary and Bernie and thriving as president.

Donald Trump – Straight up, I really like Trump. It’s fun to demonize the rich, but I refuse to hold his wealth against him. He has created thousands of jobs and provided fantastic products and services for the American people. That being said, do I want him as my president? No. Trump has not been solidly a Republican for very long; he has supported several liberal policies in the past. I want someone who has consistently been a conservative. I will continue to wear my “Make America Great Again” hat, but I cannot support a candidate who I do not trust to uphold a consistently conservative agenda.

Democrats:

Hillary Clinton – I do not have enough space to write about everything wrong with Clinton. The democrat agenda is abhorrent to me, so I disagree with nearly every policy she could name. Clinton has proven herself time and time again to be untrustworthy. The Benghazi mess she clearly lied about, the email scandal where she put our national security in jeopardy and all the white lies, sometimes about sniper fire, add up to make a politician with a moral compass that any sane person would not trust.

Bernie Sanders – Sanders has gathered a huge amount of support from millennials, promises of free stuff tend to do that. While socialistic policies have a long history of being miserable failures, my biggest problem with socialism is its morality. I cannot get on board with a president who thinks it is fair to punish the people who make the country run in an effort to help out the “little guy.” This country was founded on principles of personal responsibility and hard work and people like Sanders turn their backs to these principles. If you disagree with me and are still willing to vote for a socialist, please look up Venezuela, the Soviet Union and Greece, to see how it worked out for them.