Students in my summer course were given the opportunity to complete a candidate statement for extra credit where they were asked to write a 300-400 word statement about which candidate they supported and why. They were required to focus on two to three policy issues on which they agreed with the candidate on.
Out of the students in the class, 49% supported Hillary Clinton, 20% supported Donald Trump, 17% supported Gary Johnson, and 14% supported other candidates. Every few days, I will post some of their statements to this website in order to a) highlight their work and b) to provide some context on how today’s college students feel about the 2016 presidential candidates.
Here’s the schedule for the postings (in alphabetical order by candidate):
- Hillary Clinton (8/8)
- Gary Johnson (8/10)
- Donald Trump (8/12)
Today, we will hear from a student who personally supports Donald Trump.
Response 1, Jesse H.
The 2016 presidential election has been a very interesting election to be a part of. Because this is the first election where I am legally allowed to vote, I am naturally drawn to follow the election. The most difficult aspect for me regarding this election is that Donald Trump has recently won my vote simply as a defense mechanism against other candidates. It is very unfortunate that in my first election, my presidential vote will be cast for someone I do not desire to be president. When it comes down to a few specific issues, I align more with Trump, but I personally am no fan of his.
In some senses in this election, I am a single issue voter. For all the issues I agree or disagree with, I simply cannot vote for someone who so strongly supports abortion. Hillary Clinton has clearly voiced on multiple occasions her pro-choice stance on the matter. Donald Trump has stated that he would not fund Planned Parenthood because of the large amount of work they do in supporting abortion. I have seen the brokenness and anguish that comes from rape and even incest, but I also believe that abortion is beautified murder. I have no desire to condemn mothers who have mode pro-choice decisions. But if I am choosing who I put in office, it would make no sense for me to vote for someone that misaligns with my stance on this issue.
Every reason that Donald Trump has earned my support necessitates some sort of rationalization. Immigration is the second policy that I again feel the need to support Trump even though most everything about him tells me not to. I have seen the way he belittles minorities, discriminates entire races and stereotypes even the most esteemed of professionals. It is not my desire for a man such as that to be in office, but I do feel that this country has a need to change the security on our borders. Hillary Clinton has pushed for decreasing some of the security and taking in more refugees, which does not merit any validity. Aside from the more than irrational idea of a wall, Trump’s pushes for a heightened national security system are a healthy step for our country. Increasing border security should by no means limit the number of immigrants we let enter the country, if anything my hope is that it will increase because America will continue to be a safer and more peaceful country. Reform will hopefully decrease the number of illegal immigrants that have the ability, just like any natural born U.S. citizen, to impose a threat to our country.
Read Take 1 here.
What about you? Why (or why not) do you support Donald Trump?
*Responses shared with written permission from the authors. Replication in any form, without permission from the author, is prohibited.
“Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0)