Students discuss who they’re voting for, why

This Tuesday either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will be named the next president of the United States and will have the ability to greatly shape both the United States and the world.

Citizens across the country are casting their ballots to select the candidate they believe would do the best job over the next four years, but this election is different from those in the past.

“This election is based less on issues and more on personality, since both Trump and Clinton have been in the public spotlight for years before they decided to run for president,” David Kabrt, ’17, said.

Kabrt will be voting for Hillary Clinton this Tuesday.

“A lot of people are voting for her as an anti-Trump vote, which I find disappointing,” Kabrt said. “When I look at (Clinton’s) platform and (Clinton’s) record, that’s who I want as a moderate progressive.”

Kabrt said even if personalities were taken out of the equation, he would still vote for Clinton. In general, though, he thinks there would be more votes for Trump if personality was not a factor.

He said he has noticed different stigmas attached to people voting for Trump and Clinton, and many Lehigh students try to “play it safe” by saying they do not necessarily like either candidate.

Kabrt, the head Gryphon in Richards, said someone put a Trump-Pence sticker on his door.

“I had a resident come up to me to talk about (the election),” Kabrt said. “He’s a Trump supporter, and he came up to me very timid because he didn’t feel like he had someone he could discuss being pro-Trump with. He seemed very relieved to find someone who could at least listen to his views, even if I’m not supportive of them.”

President of College Republicans, Max Weiss, ’17, does not think very highly of either candidate.

“Overall, the negatives vastly outweigh the positives,” he said.

Weiss believes Trump does not have any political experience that would help him in being president, and while Clinton has many qualifications, she also has many disqualifying factors.

“It’s just a matter of which direction the country heads in for the next four to eight years,” Weiss said.

He said the U.S. could expect increased national debt under Clinton or a potential entry into the Middle East under Trump.

He said this election ultimately comes down to how closely the Constitution will be followed. In Weiss’ opinion, Obama had a loose interpretation of the Constitution over the past eight years and issued many executive orders. He thinks a Democrat in the White House is more likely to follow this procedure.

The balancing of how far constitutional rights can go is one of the issues Weiss is most concerned about this election, so Weiss has decided not to vote for a Democrat in this election.

“It’s a lot easier to back up why I’m not voting for someone than why I am,” he said.

President of College Democrats Jigar Patel, ’17, is voting for Clinton because he believes she is the better candidate, but she is not necessarily the candidate he wants as president.

“It’s disappointing because I can’t 100 percent support one president,” he said.

He said this election is less issues-based than past elections, and he has seen a lot of name calling.

“It’s hard because both presidents are not liked,” Patel said. “I think they’re the most unliked presidents to date.”

He will be casting his vote for Clinton on Tuesday because he believes she will give the U.S. the best future.

He believes the free public school college tuition Clinton advocates for will affect his future children. He also thinks immigration and foreign policy play a large role in this election.

“A lot of these issues don’t affect me directly currently but will affect me in the future,” Patel said.

Patel thinks more people will get involved in primary election voting in the future due to the public distaste seen for both candidates.

The presidents of Lehigh’s College Democrats and College Republicans agreed on the overall level of disapproval for each candidate nationwide.

“I think everyone is going to be discontent with either candidate,” Weiss said. “There’s no good choice in this election. I think people will be upset either way. It’s just a matter of how upset they will be.”