By FORRESTER PACK/Murphy News Service

Roughly a year out from the 2016 presidential election, Murphy News Service gauged opinions and thoughts from people around the University of Minnesota.

Social Media

It appeared that students at the U were all over the spectrum of interest in 2016. Some comments posted to Reddit from those who responded when asked about the current election season during the last week of October:

• “[I don’t know], primaries are in like 5 months. Good time to start lawyering up, hitting the gym, and reading up on the candidates. At least register to vote,” a user commented.
• “It’s a year away. We have two completely useless candidates, neither of which should be anywhere close to power,” another user wrote.
• “As an Ohioan, I’m happy that there will be some non-political ads mixed in. Ohio has political ad after political ad. Don’t like any of the candidates though. They are all either too radical, shady, or dumb,” Reddit user ‘yankeesfan13’ said.

Computer science major ‘xGray3’ offered thoughts on one of the leading candidates and the issues at hand.

“I’m an independent and generally pretty disillusioned with my options, but I’m a pretty big fan of Bernie Sanders. It feels like most of the other candidates aren’t proposing any new solutions to the issues America is facing. I’d like to see a new direction. Whether you believe Bernie has the right ideas or not, I really feel like his heart is in the right place. Rather than starting out in a very reserved position of keeping things as they are, he starts with the progressive idea that we should be doing as much as we can to help American citizens first and foremost. And should this not be the case? I feel like as a country we are obligated to place our citizens first and foremost, but it seems that most politicians are very connected to the interests of big businesses. I certainly don’t think Bernie is perfect, but I think his heart is in the right place and I think he’s the kind of leader we need to represent our people and to get people more enthused about politics. I do think some of his ideas have a very strong potential. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that a single-payer healthcare system would be cheaper than what we have right now. I’m skeptical that college will be free any time soon, but I do like that he’s at least addressing the issue, which is more than I can say for any other candidate. It seems to me that a lot of other candidates are war hungry, but Bernie seems to place war as a very last resort, which I believe is what a leader should do. He’s said he would support the legalization of marijuana. He’s spoken out against the prison system. All around, I feel like his ideas are in a good place. I really hope people see past how the media has treated him.”

College Democrats at the U

Haylee Hilton, president of the student group College Democrats at the University of Minnesota, addressed several thoughts and issues she feels are important about the upcoming election.

“[On the Democratic side] I think we are lucky to have three very strong candidates for the role of U.S. president,” Hilton said during an interview with Murphy News Service. “As soon as we get a nominee, I feel we’ll have as strong a candidate as possible going into the 2016 presidential election.”

Hilton added that Minnesota, and the U in particular, play an important role in national politics. Minnesota has a lot of young people. Any conversation had during the presidential race about college affordability is important. Any conversation had about increasing jobs, insuring the economy is strengthened, making sure each and every American has a fighting chance at equality is important to all of us. Minnesota is a very diverse state, so conversations about racial equity and immigration reform are incredibly important. Not only on to the U and the state, but the country as well,” Hilton said.

The student group doesn’t officially endorse presidential candidates, but it does support local election candidates. College Democrats at the U operates primarily through Minnesota Young DFL, the official youth caucus of the Minnesota DFL.

“I think it’s important for every single young person to make an informed, education decision and to then get out and vote,” Hilton said. “The issues being discussed now are going to affect the youth the most. All of the current decision-makers from older generations will be long gone by the time many more people will be affected by those decisions […]  Here at the U, college affordability, job security, and the state of our environment are just three of many issues we at College Democrats feel are important to the student body and surrounding community.

College Republicans at the U

Though the student group doesn’t officially endorse national candidates, College Republicans at the U member Theo Menon offered his personal thoughts.

“As a first-time voter, important issues to me are the economy and issues that affect my generation,” Menon said. “Personally, I believe the United States should pursue a more comprehensive foreign policy, reducing taxation and regulation on businesses, and reform in our educational system.”

Menon mentioned how a national event hit home recently not only for the College Republicans, but for the University of Minnesota: A resolution by the student group to hold an annual moment of recognition for the 9/11 terror attacks was voted down by the Minnesota Student Association. Menon stated that the resolution was intended for people to examine the events of 9/11 “and its long-lasting effects on our society.”

Forrester Pack is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.