Photo by Samantha Hearn // Sidelines Archive
With voter registration closed, Tennessee’s primary elections a month away and the Iowa caucuses under our belts, it’s time to get serious about a presidential candidate.
As a college student, this is likely your first presidential election, so you may find yourself at a loss trying to make your vote count. You want to make a good decision with your vote, and the only way to do that is to make an informed decision. It’s easy to think you know a candidate from article headlines and posts shared on social media, in fact, you get so much “information” every day that it can be overwhelming.
To set the record as straight as we can, Sidelines has broken down the top two republican and the top two democratic presidential candidates after last night’s Iowa caucuses and their stance on 10 of the biggest national issues.
Who pulled ahead in the Iowa caucuses?
Hilary Clinton narrowly won with 49.9 percent to Bernie Sanders’ 49.6 percent. Martin O’Malley received only .5 percent and ultimately dropped out of the presidential race.
The Republican results were also remarkably close: Ted Cruz won with 27.7 percent, Donald Trump close behind with 24.3 percent and Marco Rubio right behind him with 23.1 percent. The rest of the pack trailed significantly behind, cumulatively accounting for the for the remaining 24.9 percent.
What do the leaders think about the issues?
Hilary Clinton:
On gun control: Wishes to strengthen background checks and ban assault weapons
On free trade: supports free trade
On the Syrian civil war: Believes should accept 65,000 Syrian refugees, vetted and screened.
On healthcare: Favors universal healthcare
On same sex marriage: Supports Supreme Court ruling
On war: Opposes military expansion, favors 12-month maximum deployment
On abortion: Considers it a woman’s unrestricted right.
On taxing: Favors taxing the wealthy more than the poor.
On Mexican immigration: Supports amnesty and opposes raiding current immigrants. Seeks to reform immigration process
Bernie Sanders:
On gun control: Wishes to ban assault weapons
On free trade: Supports free trade
On the Syrian civil war: Believes it is a “quagmire within a quagmire” and we should stay out of it
On healthcare: Favors universal healthcare
On same sex marriage: Supports Supreme Court ruling
On war: Cut military spending by $18 billion, restrict deployment to 12 months
On abortion: Considers it a woman’s unrestricted right.
On taxing: Favors taxing the wealthy more than the poor.
On Mexican immigration: Supports amnesty and opposes raiding current immigrants
Ted Cruz:
On gun control: Pro absolute gun rights
On free trade: Seeks to restrict free trade
On the Syrian civil war: Supports U.S. Military involvement
On healthcare: Repeal ObamaCare
On same sex marriage: Thinks the Supreme Court ruling was unconstitutional
On war: Supports US military involvement against ISIS
On abortion: Defund Planned Parenthood, restrict abortion and funding.
On taxing: Supports flat taxing and abolishing the IRS
On Mexican immigration: Seeks to repeal amnesty, strengthen borders
Donald Trump:
On gun control: Pro absolute gun rights
On free trade: Seeks to restrict free trade to keep jobs in the U.S.
On the Syrian civil war: Supports U.S. Military involvement
On healthcare: Repeal ObamaCare
On same sex marriage: Thinks the Supreme Court ruling should have been made by states, but is not fighting decision
On war: Supports US military involvement against ISIS
On abortion: Defund Planned Parenthood
On taxing: Supports flat taxing and abolishing the IRS
On Mexican immigration: Seeks to build a wall
For more easy information on specific issues/candidates, visit ontheissues.org or two take a comprehensive quiz to determine which candidate you most strongly agree with, visit isidewith.com
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To contact News Editor Amanda Freuler, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com
