Here, our US political writer, Casey McGourty will be keeping track of the 2016 US Presidential race. Pop back for updates!
LAST UPDATED: 2nd June 2015
As Ted Cruz becomes the first major US Presidential candidate to confirm his spot in the election, people are becoming more aware of the Texan senator’s political policies. Cruz has been in the spotlight ever since his filibuster of Obamacare, which has been argued to have led to the 2013 government shutdown. He identifies with the Tea Party, a very conservative, right wing affiliation of the Republican Party. Cruz is pro-life, anti-gay marriage, opposes the legalization of marijuana, and is a major supporter of gun rights. He has sponsored twenty-five bills of his own since being in the senate. His major articles of legislation include a bill to prohibit the murder of US civilians by drones on US grounds, a bill to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act, a bill to permit states to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and a major bill that would allow the US president to deny visas to any UN Ambassador who has been found to have engaged in terrorist activities against the US. The Junior United States senator is likely to run against Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, and Rick Perry for the Republican primaries, but so far Cruz is the only candidate confirmed for 2016.
UPDATE 10th April 2015
The second major candidate for next year’s presidential election has formally announced his campaign. Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky, is a Libertarian Republican. Libertarians believe in the constitution being read in its most literal translation. In 2009, Paul announced his controversial stance on abortion that would not allow the procedure under any circumstance. He later decided that it should be up to the doctor’s discretion in life-threatening cases. He believes gay marriage is a “moral crisis” that “offends [himself] and a lot of people”; however, he does not agree with a federal ban. Paul believes that the matter should be a state’s decision. The senator disagrees with all gun control regulations, as the Second Amendment allows citizens the right to bear arms. Paul disagrees with the legalization of drugs for recreational use, but believes it is a state’s right to vote on marijuana used for medical purposes. He criticizes mandatory minimums on criminal jail sentencing that may lead to an unfair amount of time spent in jail. After Senator Paul introduced the Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) became restricted from imposing land and water use limitations on the states. Paul advocated for a strong military presence overseas and supports airstrikes against Isis. After his April 7th announcement, and more suspected announcements in the near future, the Republicans are beginning to pressure Democratic candidates into announcing their campaigns.
UPDATE 12th April 2015
On April 12, 2015, the first female candidate announced her campaign for the 2016 election. As it had been anticipated, Hillary Clinton is the front runner for the Democratic primaries. However, her recent scandals may keep her from winning the election. As Secretary of State, Clinton was allegedly warned about an attack on the American embassy in Benghazi. Clinton did not increase the security of the embassy, and four people died. More recently, Clinton has been involved in an email scandal where she had been sending emails from her personal account about White House business. Despite all the controversy, Hillary Clinton has broken the barrier for women in politics: in 2000 she was the first female senator from New York and is the only First Lady to ever serve in any political office. She is one of the top ten most liberal senators in house today. Economically, she supports social security and Medicare, but opposes tax breaks for the wealthy. She believes in “sensible” gun control laws. When she ran in the 2008 election, she spoke of abolishing the electoral college. Clinton feels strongly about helping the poor and ending poverty in America. She, like most liberals, believes that the government should not have rights to a woman’s body, but believes that sex education, not abstinence, is the route that schools should be taking to prevent unwanted pregnancies. She has openly considered herself a feminist, seeing no shame or controversy in the matter. However, some of her views oppose normal “liberal” standards. In 2003 she opposed gay marriage, but supported civil unions; she later voted in favor of it. She also opposed “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, stating that gay soldiers should not have to hide their sexualities. Surprisingly, she supports capital punishment and shares a libertarian perspective on medical marijuana: it should be a states decision. As the first democratic candidate in the race, Hillary is looking like a strong candidate.
UPDATE: 13th April 2015
The “crown prince” of the Tea Party movement has officially announced his spot in the presidential election. Senator Marco Rubio, a republican candidate, announced his candidacy on April 13, 2015. The Floridian senator shares many of the common beliefs of the Republican Party. He strongly opposes both Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court case that made abortions legal, and same sex marriage. Like many republicans, he opposes recreational use of marijuana. Rubio does not believe that humans are causing climate change. He supports raising the minimum age to begin collecting social security. However, Rubio is a large supporter of the Dream Act, which has gained him major support among the Hispanic American community.
UPDATE: June 2nd 2015
Rick Santorum, second to Mitt Romney in the GOP candidates during the 2012 primaries, has decided to run for president again. The former senator has been one of the only republicans with a focus on the middle class during this election, which could help him gain support among the middle and lower classes. With the overwhelming number of major republican candidates compared to major democrats, the republican candidates are going to need something to stand out among voters. However, is America ready for a conservative president? Social issues have made leaps and bounds since George W. Bush’s presidency. Many people aren’t ready to be stripped of their rights. Rick Santorum is a driving force in a more strict immigration reform, which will lose him support among citizens born outside the country. He is anti gay marriage and anti abortion, both of which could hurt his chances of being president for obvious reasons. Santorum has stated that he does not believe the right to privacy allowing married couples to purchase contraceptives should be in the constitution. He is anti pornography, stating that is causes harmful changes in ones brain, and advocates violence against women. While not all of his points are entirely close minded conservative (when was the last time a Bible Belt conservative made anything relating to violence against women on his list of priorities?), most of his opinions are extreme. In some cases his “I don’t just take the pledge, I take the bullets” attitude has turned people off to Rick Santorum’s style of politics. However, hardcore conservatives may find his level of seriousness in his political standpoints a good thing. One thing is for sure: this man is not going to be willing to back down on his political views under any circumstance.
UPDATE: 23rd June 2015
Could America have its first socialist president? Bernie Sanders announced his campaign for the 2016 presidential election. Although he is technically part of the Independent Party, although for election purposes he is running as a Democrat. Sanders calls himself a Democratic Socialist. Many of his policies show a stark resemblance to Scandinavian style socialism. He is a huge proponent of universal health care, and highlights that pay inequality does nothing but hurt. He is and has always been a major force behind the government stepping in to help climate change issues. He is pro-choice and consistently votes in favor of the mothers rights over a fetus. Sanders was endorsed as the “preferred candidate” in the senate by the Feminist Majority in 2012. He believes in equal pay for equal work. Sanders supports LGBT rights and has voted in favor of gay rights 100% of the time. He is against the death penalty. He is for legalization of medical marijuana, but voted to exclude hemp from the definition of marijuana.
It’s going to be a tough election year for those in favor of ending the “Bush-Clinton Administration” with Hillary Clinton being the front runner for the Democratic Party, and now with Jeb Bush, son of George H. W. Bush and brother of George W. Bush, leading the polls for the Republicans. However, with his recent vocalization of somewhat disconcerting political views, his numbers may be on the decrease. He was recently quoted saying: “We need to make sure that we protect the right not just of having religious views, but the right of acting on those religious views. Conscience should also be respected for people of faith who want to take a stand for traditional marriage.” He has vowed to continue fighting gay marriage. Jeb has also recently stated that his brother, George, had no choice but to get involved in Iraq, which was one of the most controversial wars in American history, save Vietnam. Like many Republicans, Bush is anti-abortion except for in cases of rape and incest and doesn’t believe Planned Parenthoods and similar facilities should be given public funding. He questions climate change, but has not definitively come out against it. Bush believes that immigrants should not be handed citizenship, but it should be made easier for immigrants to get legal status. He has compared the Obama immigration reform to that of a “Latin American Dictator”. He vows to revoke these should he become president. He is in favor of raising the retirement age from 65 to 68 or 70, causing an older starting age for social security. He’s anti gun control, and thinks civilians should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon. Scott Walker (potential candidate) and Marco Rubio (official candidate) are Bush’s closest competition according to MSNBC.
UPDATE: 9th August 2015
While the Republican Party has seen celebrity presidents before – Ronald Regan was an actor before he was a politician- does this entrepreneur-turned-reality-TV-show-host really have a chance? To be honest, I almost didn’t waste my time writing him into this article because I thought there was no chance anybody was taking him seriously; I certainly wasn’t. But since his campaign has officially begun, he’s risen to the top of the polls, 3 percentage points above Jeb Bush. Are people really willing to let the man behind “YOU’RE FIRED” become, as the expression goes, leader of the free world? As it appears, many people are. He has recently come out saying he is worth $10 billion, however he has filed for bankruptcy multiple times. Trump has already come out against illegal Mexican immigrants, calling them rapists and murderers (which, unsurprisingly, caused a major loss of support from legal immigrants, one of the largest voter demographics). He has also burned bridges with China, calling them our enemies, and more recently saying we need more sanctions on Iran. Like most republicans, Trump is pro-life, anti-gay marriage, and anti-gun control. However he does believe that these issues should be left up to the states. In 2011 he suggested that we legalize drugs (specific drugs unspecified), and tax them to use revenue for drug education. In June of this year, he was quoted saying “climate change is a hoax”. From looks alone, Donald Trump is a joke. However, as looks are often deceiving, he was recently at the top of the polls for the Republican Party.
One of few democratic candidates in the race so far, Martin O’Malley seems to be Hillary Clinton’s biggest competition within the party, not including Joe Biden, former Vice President, who is currently speculated to run, but has not officially announced candidacy. O’Malley has been governor Maryland since 2007. He supports federal funding of Planned Parenthood and similar organizations, and has proposed a plan to put $101 million into stem cell research over six years. O’Malley stands by the phrase “all men [and women] are created equal” including the entire LGBTQ+ community. He led both the Maryland decisions to legalize gay marriage and support the Dream Act. He is against the death penalty saying “we’re one of the last refuges”. Since 2011, O’Malley has fought to make gun control laws stricter. While Hillary leads the democratic polls, it’s no secret that she has many opposers. There are many people that would rather see O’Malley in office than her, which could help him greatly.
Casey McGourty