US Presidential Elections 2016

 

By: Lina María Gómez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I believe everyone should be interested in politics, and not only their country’s  (which by the way is the most important one because of its impact in the daily life of the citizens), but politics all around the world which can determine how life, law, economy and population, among others, are going to change throughout the world in a specific amount of time. Politics, which is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “the activities associated with the governance of a country or area, especially the debates between parties having power”, is an everyday matter which should concern everyone because not only does it search a common good, and what a better way to find out what is it than to involve everyone in the decisions that our leaders make, but it also defines how the human being is going to live with one another because we, humans, are a social species by nature.

 

            One of the biggest decisions that are taken by people concerning the topic of politics is the election of a president, and the most important decision of all is the election of the president of the United States of America. This is due to the fact that since the twentieth century, the USA has been a rising power which has developed into the most important country in the whole wide world. Before the World Wars, the most powerful countries were the ones located in Europe, but after that, all of the nations which were important before, were now in a bad place because of all of the things they gave up, such as a healthy economy and education, but the most important of all, the life costs and deaths that happened during that time; the United States, which was not really related with the war, rose as the country that it is today, and since then, it started developing an economy that surpassed all the expectations of that time dominating the global market and, later on, the political decisions that were taken no matter what the topic was; the leader of all this development and how the country is seen throughout all his mandate is the president.

 

              We are now entering a period of time in which this election should be made; we are near the next presidential elections of the most important man or woman in the world which are supposed to be held on November 8, 2016. Since this year, candidates are being presented and debates are being hosted in different parts of the country, and noticing that most of the people are not informed about these elections, The Scoop is going to give you some of the information you need to know about these future elections.

 

• The Candidates:

For now, it is only known that eight persons are running to be the next US president, two democrats whose philosophy is a modern American liberalism which looks for social and economic equality, a mixed economy and a welfare state in which the government protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of the country’s citizens; and six republicans who are known for their conservatism, it involves the free market capitalism, strong national defense, labor unions and a limited government.

 

• Hillary Clinton

She is the former secretary of state of Clinton’s mandate and a democrat. She needs to maintain the support she has from white women while working to gain the support of college kids and men who are drifting away from the Democratic Party; she also needs to convince the immigrants that she is on their side based on the Immigration Laws. She looks for a better country for the children and address income inequality, higher minimum wage, and affordable child care.

 

• Bernie Sanders

He is a senator who calls himself a socialist and is running with the Democratic Party. He has the support of the liberal activists of his party and looks for the support of African-Americans among others. He wants the party to return to its roots and address the economic inequality in which he proposed to break the six largest banks in the country because they have too much control; also he supports measures to reduce gas emissions, same-sex marriage and Medicare.

 

• Ted Cruz

He is a US senator and he is running with the Republican Party. He looks for the support of Christian conservatives. He emphasizes his opposition to president Obama and liberalism.

 

• Rand Paul

He is a republican and a senator who hopes to return the principles of liberty and limited government to the country. He looks for the support of his father’s voters, and people who are not Republican like college students. He believes that he does not belong to the Republicans or the Democrats because they have “led the country down a ruinous path that has deprived Americans of their civil liberties and jeopardized future generations’ financial and personal security”. He does not favor the same-sex marriage but he will leave it to the states.

 

• Marco Rubio

He is a US senator running with the Republicans who wants to bring new ideas to the table because he believes that the leader’s ideas are 20th century focused. He wants to reunite the Republican Party, and looks for the support of Hispanics because he is the son of Cuban immigrants. He believes that global bodies play a valuable role in international relations, also in a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and that human activity is not causing climate change which is why he opposes laws to combat climate change. He opposes same-sex marriage, wants to cut corporate taxes and reduce tax rates.

 

• Ben Carson

A republican and a retired neurosurgeon who opposes Medicare and the health care laws imposed by Obama. He wants for people to pay medical bills by health savings accounts, and for care insurances to pay treatments like the one used to combat cancer. He is not in favor of same-sex marriage, wants to lower tax rates, and to extend the age in which people receive Social Security benefits.

 

• Carly Fiorina

A republican and a former business executive of Hewlett-Packard who thinks is the person for the job because she knows how the economy really works. She opposes abortion rights; she supports same-sex marriage, and she would support a path to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants if they go to college or serve in the army.

 

• Mike Huckabee

He is a former Arkansas governor and a republican who looks for the support of older working-class conservatives. He supports military action against the Islamic State; he does not support same sex marriage, and he does not support the raise of the age for collecting Social Security.

 

• Primary Elections

We often hear a term called primary elections, but we never know what it means or how it affects the next US president. A primary election is an election that reduces the number of candidates that run for the presidency before the elections are held; each party holds one to decide which will be the candidate that will run for office. They are held the same years as the office elections, but the dates of these ones depend on the state in which they are held, happening on the first semester of 2016.

 

             This is just some of the information you need to know to be informed about the next presidential elections and who are the possible candidates of the elections of the United States. I believe it is important to really know who is running, but the most important is the fact of how are they planning to spend their four years as one of the most important people in the world; just because you think that he or she might be a good candidate does not define if they are really the best option for their country without knowing their proposals and what their ideas are for each aspect a country runs, that’s why it is important to be informed.