Just as the Republican and Democratic parties are determining who their respective candidates will be, so are the eligible-to-vote students of the University of Rhode Island.
After Monday night’s Iowa caucuses, this year’s election season is officially underway, with both parties one step closer to choosing their final candidate. And from chatting with a variety of students on the quad, it is clear that URI students are a politically diverse bunch with their own unique perspectives.
Many students solidly self-identify as either liberal or conservative, and have clear ideological reasons for the candidates they support. One such student, Sam Cooney, describes himself as a “liberal Democrat†and supports Democratic candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), because Secretary Hillary Clinton is “not liberal enough†and does not align with his values. On the other side of the political spectrum, conservative student Ryan Gavin supports Donald Trump (R-NY) for the Republican nomination and said, despite some policy disagreement, that Trump’s aggressive mindset and strong leadership style have him convinced that “he’s the right guy.â€
Some students, however, support candidates for practical reasons. This includes students like Chloe Wigsten, who is mostly interested in policy. She said she supports Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination “because of his policies on wealth inequality.†But Wigsten isn’t choosing along party lines, and in the right circumstances she “would vote Republican.â€
Other students are more dissatisfied with the state of politics, and see no candidate who they could fully support. One student, Ryan Erricson, put it bluntly: “I hate politics in America…to be honest, all of them suck.†More than a few students, like Pang Yang and Jane Enos, do not see themselves aligned with any particular candidate, but summed up their views in the same way: “Not Trump.â€
Understandably, with seven months until Election Day nationwide, not everyone on campus is concerned with national politics quite yet. Some students say that they just “aren’t into politics†at all, while some lean in one direction but haven’t yet chosen between the candidates for the nominations. Others are still new to the political process, having just come of legal voting age, and still need a chance to familiarize themselves with national elections.
Luckily for all the new voters, independent voters and ‘undecideds’ on campus, there’s still time for Rhode Islanders to make up their minds before the presidential primary on April 26. As the nomination contest for both parties continues and the general election draws closer, expect more students to choose their candidate and start to get involved in the election hype. The jury is still out on whether this year’s election will rival 2008 in terms of excitement and enthusiasm, but regardless, URI students will certainly be a part of it.