February 2016

The Primary Election has begun to show Americans where the country may be headed in the next phase of American history. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders dueled and campaigned for months in preparation for the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary. The Republicans have had a few shockers with strong pushes coming from Cruz, Rubio and Bush.

Trump, as expected by many, has been in front thus far. The Primary Election is in full swing now, however, there is still an audience to be swayed to vote. So far in February, Sanders won New Hampshire by a substantial margin, yet lost the Iowa Caucus to Clinton by just a few delegates. Through all the chaos thus far, there have also been a few curveballs that have taken the country by surprise.

Trump won by a landslide in New Hampshire, but the big surprise of the day was who came in second. Kasich, someone who has not had much publicity so far this election, came in second, beating out Cruz, Bush, and Rubio. Kasich did spend lots of time and money in New Hampshire, but he did get second place and set himself up for a good rest of the primary.  As a shock to many, Kasich had a taste of the spotlight in politics, which will help his campaign in the coming months by gaining more voters who had previously not considered him.

The Cincinnati says, “Kasich avoided attacking opponents, although his political action committee aired commercials that criticized his opponents for mudslinging in the form of millions of dollars’ worth of negative commercials.” Chris Christy and Carly Fiorina have both officially dropped out after poor performances, as well as Martin O’Malley on the Democratic side all due to their poor performances in New Hampshire.

With an update on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is very unhappy with her campaign thus far, according to Fox News. She has reportedly shaken up and replaced some of her campaign staff due to poor performances. Clinton has to find a way to persuade the minority votes to join her cause because that is the only way that she has a chance of winning.

Most recently, the Nevada and South Carolina elections have concluded and have began to show the beginning of the end for some candidates that were once front runners.  Jeb Bush has dropped out of the race due to poor performances in all of the elections to this point.  Clinton has turned her campaign around, winning Nevada, while Trump won yet another primary in South Carolina.

The Wesleyan community has a great selection of candidates to choose from. For those who are of the legal age to vote, knowledge of what is happening is crucial, as voting in the election is not as easy as clicking on a candidate that has a nice name or a good face. Every vote matters and as Wesleyan students, we have earned the chance to voice our opinions.