Madi Peyton- With the political field heating up, it’s time to feel the Bern. Yes, Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has climbed the democratic ladder to put himself neck and neck with front runner Hilary Clinton. This is an undeniable fact, seeing that the Iowa Caucasus voted 49.5% for Sanders and 49.9% for Clinton. Taking up a liberal Democratic platform, Sanders offers views towards change for the American people.

College is especially relevant for a majority of Americans who hope to continue on their educational journey following high school graduation. On the issue of college tuition and debt, Sanders aims to make public colleges and universities FREE for students. This opens the door for many who wouldn’t normally be able to afford schooling to attend college.

Adding to his plan is an increased federal work study program to give college students hands-on career experience. Between this action and the reduction of interest rates on student loans, Sanders hopes to secure the best-educated workforce in the world. Like most tasks, this goal begins with education.

Achieving a proper education is no use if there are not available jobs to apply the knowledge to. In Sanders’ Rebuild America Act, he strives to “put more than thirteen million Americans to work in decent-paying jobs.” Reducing the unemployment rate is crucial for an economy to properly thrive with supply and demand. If citizens are not working and earning income, they won’t go out and pump money back into the economy. If this occurs, demand remains low and forces business to lower prices, resulting in smaller profits.

Aligned with this plan is an improvement of America’s infrastructure. While this word may be a Level H vocab word, it has much larger implications in the country. According to his agenda he would “invest $1 trillion over five years to modernize our infrastructure.” This goes towards improving roads, bridges, railroads, airlines, and water treatment plants. All of these small parts come together to make up the underbelly of a functioning economy. Allocating more funding towards improving these infrastructures can only have a positive effect on the economy, and that is what Sanders is striving towards.

When it comes time to cast your vote, consider Sanders for your nomination. He sees the need for change and has a plan to implement different action for society. Now more than ever, it is time to feel the Bern.

Devin Welsh- If I was forced to vote and choose to elect the next President of the United States solely on the information I currently have, knowledge that I have accrued from the countless and comical presidential debates, I honestly have to say that I would be torn.

However, I have narrowed it down to the remaining Democratic candidates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The Democrats just seem to have their acts together as far as a party and what they stand for.

That being said, feeling the Bern and indulging in Hillary’s clearly rehearsed yet equally effective rhetoric can still drum up a bit of internal conflict.

On one hand, I appreciate Bernie’s disregard for the typical presidential smooth talking and his collection of far left, progressive policies. But I have a lot of trouble believing that he’ll be able to get any of it done in a Congress that’d be unwilling to compromise with a self-avowed Democratic socialist.

The Vermont Senator strikes me as the elementary school kid running for president that promises free pizza and no homework forever only to be brought back to reality by the administrators.

On the other hand, while Hillary’s polished political rhetoric and history with Wall Street strike me as slightly unnerving, I feel as though an experienced politician is not an idea that we as a nation should abandon because the far left Senator and several Republicans said so.

Hillary’s foreign policy experience is certainly nothing to ignore, especially as Bernie is severely lacking in that department. In the world we live in currently, the world that exists outside of the United States, we need international collaboration to eliminate the fear and discord that is hiding in the Middle East and South Asia.

In the end it makes more sense to vote for the candidate with years of experience and the ability to get things done in Washington, no matter how tempting the utopia that Bernie Sanders promises may seem.

Taylor Wooley- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is running in the 2016 presidential election. She’s an extremely intelligent woman with a strong background in political affairs and should be your vote because she’s qualified, has campaigned on some amazing causes, and, if elected, would be the first woman president.

Hillary is one of the most qualified candidates for the election. She was senior class president of Wellesley College, and graduated with honors from Yale before finishing an additional year of graduate classes. Also, she is very experienced in political affairs. She worked on the presidential campaigns of Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, and Jimmy Carter, where she gained experience and learned to take a more independent role in the White House by learning how everything works. She also worked for Senator Walter Mondale’s committee for migrant workers in 1971, chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee while husband Bill Clinton was Governor, and co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. Hillary was named one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in America by the National Law Journal in 1988 AND 1991, and served eight years as the First Lady of the United States while husband Bill Clinton was president. Not only is she more than qualified for the position of the next president of the United States, she has the most first hand experience to do it.

Beyond personal achievements, Clinton has campaigned for some amazing causes. Her most famous campaign is, “human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.” Taking a stand for women, Clinton shows her feminist side by campaigning on the platform that women are indeed equal to every other human, and should have the same chance to be president of the United States. In every position she has previously held, Clinton has campaigned for women’s rights.

One of the most important reasons to vote for Hillary is that her views match up with yours. She doesn’t want to build a wall to stop immigrants, or ban foreigners in need of American refuge; unlike Trump, she wants to help make America a better place. Her views match with the views that many Americans hold. She is pro equal rights, opposes using “religious freedom” to justify cutting access to healthcare and discrimination, supports gun control, is pro choice, and wants to fix Citizens United. She believes that we should be worrying less about immigrants and Mexico, and more on what needs to be taken care of in America, so that we can better ourselves, and then be able to better handle foreign affairs.

Most importantly, Hillary uses her power to enforce gender equality. She does as much work as any man and doesn’t let being a woman take her down. She embraces the fact that yes, she is a woman, and tries her best to win this election as a woman, for women and America all the way.

As a main candidate in the 2016 Presidential election, Hillary puts herself out there with her new views on affairs, her campaign of feminism and equality, and her outstanding experience that will help her win this election and run the United States better than any other man could.

Kee Min- I’m picking the lesser of two evils. As a Democrat, I will never be able to throw my support behind any Republican candidates. As much of a hipster pick it is to endorse Bernie Sanders, I believe that the best option for America and the Democratic Party is to elect him in the office.

As a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, Sanders has put out radical plans to change the United States. He endorses single-payer healthcare that would make the Republicans appreciate Obamacare. He plans to make colleges free for everyone by taxing financial transactions, mainly in the Wall Streets. Basically, Sanders is the Oprah Winfrey of politics. Seems like the Vermont Senator has forgotten that somebody has to pay for all of this. While some of the funds will surely come from the big banks and top 1%, most of the budget will have to come from tax revenue, which will result in tax increase. While it may seem unfavorable to some. America is one of the few industrialized countries without free health care. Also, most of the European countries like France, Germany, etc. already have implemented free college education. He did not receive 84% of the youth vote in Iowa by accident.

While Clinton is a fine politician, she has too many skeletons in her closet to be trusted by the people of the United States. The controversies surrounding Benghazi and her emails have been ingrained in people’s memory. While Trump and Clinton have national headlines, both in rather unconventional ways, Trump’s egotistical characteristic justifies his actions, while Clinton simply failed to do her job and keep her personal business out of the politics. Like Sanders said, “no one wants to hear about your damn email.”

Perhaps the most attractive attribute about Bernie Sanders is his sincerity and passion. People have complained about Clinton being too fake and mechanic. She is always criticized for not being sincere and real enough to the people, and Bernie is complete opposite of that. Not unlike Donald Trump, Sanders looks like he has nothing to lose in this election and is just plain out saying what he is thinking. When he gives a speech or goes into a debate, the Vermont Senator always looks fierce and passionate about every topic he argues. He has turned the hearts of many voters just by showing that he truly cares about the country and firmly believe that what he is arguing for is the best for the country.

Now- he has his fair share of criticism, and rightfully so. Many and most of his policies are idealistic at best, and it’s hard to envision him working with Congress with such radical views, considering how tough it was for Obama to really do what he wants to do. Since I simply can not trust Hillary Clinton, and Sanders do not seems to be shy about saying what’s in his heart, I am officially endorsing Bernie Sanders as the Democratic party nominee and the next president of the United States.