USU Students weigh in on the election

Kevin Mouritsen

USU Students Express Frustration, Apathy Towards Controversial Presidential Election

In what will likely go down as one of the most intense and vicious United States presidential elections ever, USU students are voicing their opinions (or lack thereof) about the election and what their plans are for voting this fall.

“I don’t really follow [the election]” said Ben Draper, a sophomore majoring in biological engineering.

Draper, like several other USU students, said that he will most likely be voting in the fall, but he is unsure for whom.

And he’s not the only one. Senior Adam Black, a graphic design major, said that ever since former presidential candidate Mitt Romney dropped out of the race, he hasn’t been sure who to vote for.

“I would have rather had Romney,” said Black.

Sophomore landscape architecture major Tyson Stoddard agrees.

“I kind of stopped following things when Mitt Romney dropped out,” said Stoddard.

Stoddard says that, while he’s not sue for whom, he will definitely be voting in the fall. But he says that it’s about choosing the best of the worst.

“I don’t really like any of [the candidates] a whole lot,” he said.

For some students, they say they just need to know more about how the presidential candidates stand on the issues.

Black admits that he isn’t really familiar with all of the stances that the remaining presidential hopefuls have on the important issues like health care, the war in Iraq, and illegal immigration, but he doesn’t like what he’s heard.

“I don’t respect very much the views of the remaining candidates,” said Black.

He continued: “I think Barack Obama is cool, but he doesn’t salute the flag, and that’s something that puts up a red flag for me.”

Sophomore finance major Tony Lopez says that the fact that Clinton is still in the race is “absurd.”

But Lopez’s fiancée disagrees.

Junior accounting major Amy Hicken thinks that a Clinton victory wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

“If people like her, it could be a good thing,” said Hicken.

The downside, Hicken said, is that anything she does wrong will be blamed on the fact that she is a woman.

“Anything she does that people don’t like people will stereotype as female,” said Hicken. “They’ll say, ‘Oh, well, she did that ‘cause she’s a woman.’”

Hicken added that she thinks that the fact that Obama and Clinton are still fighting for the nomination is hurting the democrats chances at winning the election.

“They’re not going to be unified and it’s going to be harder for [them] to win,” she said.

Winning isn’t an option for the democrats, said sophomore finance major Drew Vera.

Drew is looking for a return to the White House for the Republicans, and Drew said that he knows just the guy that can help Sen. John McCain win the Presidency.

“Mitt Romney.”

Drew continued that he’s not sure if McCain is the best candidate, but he said that he’s certain that a McCain-Romney ticket would make the best presidency.

Many students are still unsure for whom they will vote. For Stoddard, it’s merely a process of elimination.

“I know that I’ll never vote for Hillary Clinton, and I probably won’t vote for Obama,” he said. Then he summed up how a lot of students are feeling in four short words:

“It’s a tough decision.”