Whether you are registered as a Republican, Democrat, Independent, Green Party, or any other third party, your vote matters this election. For those of us that this is our first election that we can vote in, including myself, nothing is more exciting than casting that ballot for who we want to be the next president of the United States. On Tuesday, March 1, eleven states participated in primaries enabling presidential candidates to get an idea of where they are standing for the presidential nomination for their corresponding party.
The republican party leans to the right and expresses more conservative ideals. The candidates running and party members generally support lowering taxes, increased spending on the military, getting rid of Obamacare, limited government regulations on businesses and stronger border controls.
Donald Trump
Leading the GOP in primaries is "The Donald" seeking to "make America great again". Donald Trump has acquired 319 delegates and on Super Tuesday won the primaries of Georgia, Vermont, Virginia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Throughout his campaign, Trump has been pushing for more extreme measures towards illegal immigration and how to deal with China's pegged currency.
https://www.donaldjtrump.com
Ted Cruz
Right behind Trump in the GOP is Ted Cruz with 226 delegates. Cruz won the primaries of Oklahoma, Alaska and Texas. Cruz had served as US Senator from Texas and supports the main ideas of the Republican party. Currently, he is trying to beat Rubio in the Florida primary in order to create a two-man race between himself and Trump for the nomination.
https://www.tedcruz.org
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio is in third place in the GOP trailing both Trump and Cruz with 110 delegates and only winning the Minnesota primary. If Rubio does not win his home state, Florida, in their primaries on Tuesday March 15, the likelihood of his nomination for candidacy is unfortunately very low. By winning Florida, he is able to stay in the race and get closer to Trump's lead. Rubio is pushing for more border controls, but does not plan on building a wall like one of his opponents. He does not have intentions of repealing Obamacare, but rather finding a more efficient way of providing health care to our citizens with more choices. He has intentions of educational reform that will direct students towards professions that this country needs; as well as intentions of economic reform that will support free enterprise.
John Kasich
John Kasich remains in the race with only 25 delegates although he did not win any states. Kasich poses the largest threat to Rubio, as they are both equally popular in many places around the country. Although he is trailing behind the other three candidates, his fight to become presidents remains strong.
https://johnkasich.com
Similar to Kasich, Dr. Carson remains in the race with only 8 delegates and not winning any states so far. Although in the running for Super Tuesday, he is dropping from the race as he no longer can keep up with the competition of his candidates.
https://www.bencarson.com
The democratic party is on the opposite end of the spectrum and leans to the left. The candidates running and party members generally support raising taxes, decreased spending on the military, support for Obamacare, increased government regulations on businesses and finding pathways for immigrants to citizenship.
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton leads the democratic party with 1,052 delegates. Clinton's campaign has pushed for racial justice and women's equality, but she is having difficulty reaching out to younger women. Her gender was once a push for many voters but now is not seen as such a push, as her opponent seems to be more appealing to the younger audience.
https://www.hillaryclinton.com
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders trails Clinton by 625 delegates, leaving him at 427. Bernie's campaign has been given the hashtag #FeeltheBern and although it was a powerful campaign, it does not look like he will be going all the way to be the Democratic candidate for the 2016 election. However, this gap between him and Clinton does not appear to be ending his presidential campaign any time soon, as he claims to have the financial means to keep going.
https://go.berniesanders.com/page/content/splash
With the New York primary coming up next month, April 15, remember these few things:
1.) If you didn't register to vote yet, get out there and register! In New York you have to be registered to a specific party to vote in their primary; but fear not, you can change your party affiliation at any time if your views ever sway back the other way.
2.) Don't simply vote for someone because everyone else is. Vote for who you think would be the best leader of this country and do your research before voting.
3.) Your vote does matter! Some elections come down to a couple votes and those couple people who brushed it off saying their opinion doesn't matter
Sources:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/03/01/hillary-vs-bernie-it-s-time-to-do-math-in-post-super-tuesday-world.html#
http://www.cnn.com/specials/politics/super-tuesday...
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2016/pri...
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Democrat_vs_Repub...
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/hil...
http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-35660923
http://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2016-pre...
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-would-hap...
