Keeping the American way of life depends on people participating in election cycles and getting involved with political issues. Millennials play a large role in this year’s election, which will determine how American life will be shaped in the next four years. However, with two of the most disliked candidates running for presidency in the history of the United states, it seems that young adults, and first time voters, are having a hard time finding a candidate they fully support, because neither of the current presidential nominees have addressed many of the issues that matter to Millennials. So on Sunday night, students and adults in the Urbana-Champaign community watched the second of three debates between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton to help them sort out who will be the lesser of two evils in the upcoming election.
One such student was Illini Democrat President Evan Keller, who felt that issues important to him were not discussed on Sunday’s debate. Keller reacted to the first question of the debate, which was if the candidates were a positive model for younger children, by saying, “I thought it was a waste of our time. We have so many substantive issues to discuss.” Specifically, issues concerning the environment: “I would like a lengthy conversation about the greatest issue of our time: climate change.”
For former Illini Republican President Chris Piper, the list is longer on what he wants heard from both party’s candidates. As Piper stated, “I would like Donald Trump to answer what it means to be a conservative, what it means to be a Republican, explain an actual plan to defeat ISIS, and tell American people why he is morally fit to lead the nation. I want Hillary to answer for a career-long tendency to change positions, her use of the Clinton Foundation while she was Secretary of State, the true difference between her and President Obama, exactly how she will change the Affordable Care Act, and how she can justify her use of a private email server for classified information and the deletion of thousands of emails.”
These were not the only concerns that Keller or Piper had while watching the debate. For Keller, one of the more shocking moments was when Trump threatened to wage a personal vendetta against Clinton and throw her in jail if he was elected president. As Keller stated, “[the threat] was generally scary and is unprecedented in American politics.”
Keller is not the only person concerned about this either. Former US Attorney General Eric Holder said in a tweet that “[Trump] is promising to abuse the power of the office.”
On the other hand, Piper believes that Hillary dodged her question about being two faced.
“She tried to sell this as a way to earn supporters from all different sides by using different arguments for the same policy,” said Piper, “[but] the question was about whether she changes the very policy that she argues depending on her audience.”
There was mutual agreement between Keller and Piper on the debate environment in general. First, the moderators were fair and gave equally hard questions to both candidates. Secondly, Bill Clinton’s accuser did not interfere with the performance of either Trump or Mrs. Clinton, and finally, Hillary will more than likely win the presidency come November.
Whether or not this prediction comes true, there are still a lot of issues that the presidents from the Illini political parties have with both candidates. The future of the American politics is with the people who are viewing this election as students, not only at the University of Illinois, but across the country. This year we must deal with the lesser of two evils and that makes this election dragged out and longer, so it is safe to say that most, if not all, students just want this election to be over.