Election: Students vote for honesty

By Clarissa Hinshaw

DeKALB | Some students have decided to vote for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to keep Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton out of office, even though they do not completely agree with Trump’s platforms.

Students who plan to vote for Trump are usually those who identify as conservative on issues such as immigration, the economy and safety. Trump said his plan will create 25 million jobs over the next 10 years, according to his website.

“I’ve decided to go with Donald Trump, because no matter how much you want to vote for Hillary Clinton and no matter how much you want to talk about her experience, I just feel like she comes off as disingenuous, and she tries to be something that she’s not,” said freshman accountancy major Rajan Golwala.

History professor Nancy Wingfield said she hears little about Trump’s proposals and is surprised by the number of supporters he has.

“I have no idea [why students vote for Trump], because almost no one I know is voting for him,” Wingfield said. “They don’t think he’s fit to be president, [and] no one talks about any programs or proposals he has.”

Wingfield said having political experience is necessary to be president. She said some people may find Trump attractive if they are unhappy with the political system or if they do not like Clinton.

While Clinton has experience in the White House, some students are voting for Trump because of the scandals surrounding Clinton’s past.

“[Clinton is] a liar, in my opinion,” Golwala said. “For all of his incorrect speech, [Trump] is honest, and there’s no filter. In some cases, it’s good, and some cases it’s not good and very inappropriate. [Clinton] is very choreographed, and I don’t like that. Although I would have loved to have had someone else in office, I can’t stand the false [act] that Hillary Clinton puts up.”

Golwala said, as a student, national security and job stimulation are the most important issues in this election.

He has decided to vote for Trump instead of a third party candidate because he is a Republican and believes in party unity.

Like Trump, Golwala supports screening immigration of Syrian refugees in the Middle East. He believes there should be better screening and background checks for those who come into the United States.

In Wednesday’s presidential debate, Trump spoke about his views on immigration and reiterated his plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We have some bad hombres here,” Trump said during the debate.

Matthew Streb, chair of the political science department, believes Trump’s polls started to lose traction after the first presidential debate on Sept. 26.

“After Trump’s first debate, you saw the polls move [away from him] an awful lot,” said Streb. “As of right now, he has not been able to do anything to change that. I think it’s the history of who they are [that makes Trump and Clinton so dislikeable]. Trump has brought on a lot of controversy with many statements on a variety of issues.”