Meet the 2016 presidential candidates

Throughout the next few months Crier writers and guest student writers will contribute to this rolling article, profiling each candidate running in the 2016 presidential election. Each profile will contain their background, three reasons why we should vote for them, and why high schoolers should care about them. Keep checking back to learn more about the candidates and information on the upcoming election.

Candidate: CARLY FIORINA

Written by: Dhvanii Raval

About Fiorina

Carly Fiorina is a Republican presidential candidate for the 2016 election. She is 61-years-old and is the only female Republican running. She has a vast career background in business through experiences in many executive positions.

Why should people vote for her?

Donald Trump famously said in the GOP Republican debate that “our leaders are stupid.” Although this remark may have beehn widely generalized and perceived as rude, it holds a certain truth. America needs a leader that can “make our country great again” and needs a forward-thinking policy that is both assertive and politically correct when dealing with sensitive matters. America needs someone who has a strong vision and a smart plan to back it up: Carly Fiorina. Fiorina is a woman who knows what’s best for America and is willing to execute her plans through reasonable actions, rather than proposing to build a magic wall to fix the immigration issue, as Trump proposes. Fiorina crusades for more definite solutions for education, women’s health and many more issues.

Initiative   

One of the most important qualities of a leader is compassion. Americans need to feel actively represented by their president and Fiorina is ready to do just that by taking a global initiative and helping minority women improve their lives. In 2008, Fiorina started a nonprofit organization called One Woman Initiative (OWI) as an attempt to empower women in Islamic­ countries both economically and politically. Later, in 2013, OWI formed a partnership with Opportunity International to give loans to the poor to help them become financially independent. Not only has Fiorina shown her compassion for Americans by standing up and taking action, she has also taken a global initiative to improve lives. America is a currently a world superpower and we need a leader that is ready to integrate global progress alongside domestic progress. Fiorina has proven that she is the woman for the job.

Executive Experience

In order to thoroughly understand business, one must have years of experience and knowledge. A leader with the skills needed to understand businesses could help businesses grow, thus helping the struggling economy. Once again, Fiorina comes out as the front-runner. Fiorina has extensive business experience- she was the Hewlett Packard (HP) CEO for six years. During that time she implemented strategies to help HP and other American businesses thrive. Thus, Fiorina’s successful experiences and knowledge are the best suited for a seat in the White House.

Brings light to important issues

Education, drugs and women’s health are hot topics in the 2016 presidential debates and Fiorina provides firm stances on all of them. She emphasizes education, which will help the next generation make intellectual and national progress. She believes that children should have access to educational opportunity  and crusades to make education the best it can be. She wants parents as well as students to have equal educational opportunities and supports the No Child Left Behind Foundation with this goal. She also opposes the legalization of any drugs because she believes that people should not be able to harm their bodies in such deadly ways. She strongly supports the protection of women’s health. Also, she plans to defund programs that have been proven fraudulent, and use hard-earned tax dollars on worthy causes instead. Fiorina is bringing America back to its roots by shedding light on important issues.

Why should students care?    

We, as high schoolers, are going to be the future of America. By the time we graduate, the 2016 elected president will be in office and his or her policies will directly affect us. Fiorina crusades for issues that directly impact students, such as education. Her changes and improvements will help most of us when we go to college, and her business background will help the economy and job market that we’ll be a part of soon. We need the right leader for our near future, and Fiorina has the right policies to make America great again.

Update: November 11, 2015

Candidate: DONALD TRUMP

Written by: Chris Borro

About Trump

Donald Trump is a Republican presidential candidate for the 2016 election. He is 69-years-old and has a career background in business.

Why should people vote for him?

America is no longer the world leader it once was. Both economically and socially, this country is far from the patriotic powerhouse it used to be during the post-WWII era, which famously saw the rise of the middle class and the “nuclear family.” Trump wants to bring back our country’s glory, as demonstrated in his presidential slogan: “Make America Great Again.” He aims to restore pride in Americans by prioritizing the welfare of this country’s citizens over that of illegal immigrants and putting a swift end to foreign wars. Perhaps the greatest asset he has is his experience and success in the business field. His business empire ensures that he won’t be able to be bought out by any particular companies and will be able to provide a new perspective that’s not strictly political, but also economical.

Extensive business experience

Trump is worth an estimated 4 billion dollars, according to Forbes. He’s run a successful major real estate firm for the last 45 years. He also helps operate numerous commercial and residential skyscrapers in Toronto, Tampa Bay, Chicago, Honolulu and many other cities, along with golf courses, restaurants and beauty pageants. To say he knows something about the economy is a major understatement. Trump has negotiated in order to better his businesses for decades, and has proven his influence as a real estate magnate. With so much knowledge and leadership under his belt already, he could easily transition from leading an organization to leading a nation. Due to his financial success, he’s stated that he would opt out of any presidential salary.

Straightforward and outspoken

Most political candidates often censor themselves, afraid of offending potential voters. Trump, on the other hand, isn’t afraid to tell people exactly what he thinks. Instead of kowtowing to hateful, easily-provoked mobs, he tells the American people his plan to better the country, regardless of how much he could be harassed. Some of his more controversial comments refer to his dislike of illegal immigrants coming into America. “The crime is raging and it’s violent,” Trump stated in June, referencing the large amount of criminal activity committed by undocumented immigrants coming from Mexico and other Latin American countries. “They’re sending people with lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems [to America.] They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime.”

If a candidate isn’t afraid to speak their mind about a sensitive topic, then there’s a good chance they wouldn’t be afraid about cracking down on topics that affect the world as a whole. Other standpoints that Trump holds, which he isn’t afraid to defend, are to provide more decisions to the general populous when it comes to medical assistance, and protecting the rights of unborn children and firearm owners. He also aims to get more Americans employed into the job force.

Experiences with crises

During some of the low points in his career, four of Trump’s business enterprises went bankrupt. He used his negotiating skills to get the best deals he could when these hotels or casinos folded, even managing to get out of his personal debt despite the bankruptcies his company faced. These kinds of skills could easily come in handy if, as president, he has to deal with any potential international hostage or economic trade situations.

Why should students care?

Trump isn’t just a politician, he’s a businessman; he can’t be bought and he knows how to work with a fluctuating economy. His political views and business skills have the potential to get the country out of debt and change the course of American history, and more directly, the future of us students. A candidate like him would surely make changes quickly enough to affect us during his potential term.

Candidate: MARCO RUBIO

Party: Republican

Editor’s Note: The information from this article was gathered from Marco Rubio for President, www.marcorubio.com unless otherwise indicated.

About Rubio
44-year old Marco Antonio Rubio was born to Cuban immigrants and grew up in Miami, Florida.
He married Jeanette Dousdebes-Rubio in 1998. They currently are raising their four children in Miami.

Political History
Rubio is currently serving as a senator of Florida and has previously served as a representative from Florida. According to VoteSmart.org, while serving as a representative, Rubio became the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives in 2006. He finished all House duties in 2008 and became a senator in 2011. On April 13, 2015, Rubio declared he would not run for Senate again and announced his run for presidency.

Why should people vote for him?
Rubio has said many times that families are the base of the American Dream. He cares about the American family life and looks to propose a $2,500 tax credit per child so families can put more money towards their children and their future. Rubio also shows immense regard for veterans. He says, “Men and women who have served our country deserve our everlasting gratitude, and better treatment than they’re getting right now. The [Veteran Affairs] system is outdated and broken, and far too many veterans are homeless, unemployed or impoverished.” Rubio declares that he will open up job and education opportunities for veterans.

Reasonable Immigration Enforcement
Immigration Reform
Rubio states that he is not anti-immigration, but that the border must be secured. As President, he will hire 20,000 border patrol workers and invest $4 billion in security cameras and sensors at the border. The media has criticized Donald Trump, Rubio’s fellow Republican presidential candidate, for his plan of building a wall at the United States-Mexico border. However, what many people don’t know is that Rubio plans to do the same: a 700-mile wall at the southern border. As unreasonable as this sounds to many Americans, it is extremely effective. America needs to lower the number of illegal Mexican immigrants crossing the border every day and literally putting a wall up in front of them will do the job. Rubio says, “Every sovereign nation has the right to set its immigration laws and enforce them, and I know first-hand that enforcing our immigration laws is not anti-immigrant.”

Rubio has also expressed the opinion that Syrian refugees should not be accepted to the US unless it is possible to vet them. He says, “These priorities have only become more important in light of the threat from sophisticated terrorist groups such as ISIS attempting to exploit our legal immigrant system or cross our borders illegally.” Rubio takes into account the undeniable risk of terrorists taking advantage of an open refugee policy. The ringleader of the recent Paris attacks managed to get into France as a refugee, and Rubio wants to prevent this from happening to the U.S. too.

Experience with Debt
U.S Debt Situation
The United States is an incredible $19 trillion in debt. This amounts to over $150,000 per taxpayer. The last thing Rubio wants to do is increase taxes, so his goal is to get Washington’s spending under control.

As Senator of Florida, he blocked the massive taxpayer-funded bailouts in ObamaCare and was named a Taxpayers’ Friend by the National Taxpayers Union. As President, Rubio will repeal ObamaCare and cut trillions in spending on the health care system. Also, he will allow states to use wasteful federal funds to pay off the debt while getting rid of unnecessary spending bills. Andrew Jackson has been the only president to ever pay off the debt. Will Marco Rubio be the second?

Comprehensive Protection Plan
ISIS
In the past several years, ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria), has become a huge threat to the United States. The November 2015 attacks in Paris proved that ISIS has the ambition and capability to execute large-scale attacks against the West in general, as well as harm Americans here at home.

Rubio says he will put more troops in the Middle East to work with the Kurds, Sunni Muslims, and other allies to defeat the Islamic Radicalists. He will build a coalition made up of multiple countries willing to send troops to Iraq and Syria with the aid of U.S forces and U.S logistical support. The coalition will assist fighters on the ground while attacking ISIS safe havens. It will be beneficial to national morale if we broadcast U.S. victories and counter ISIS recruitment propaganda, showing the world that ISIS is defeatable.

Career Opportunities
Jobs
Job opportunities are usually the most important aspect in a presidential plan. Voters look most into job reform when deciding who to vote for. Rubio declares, “To build the most innovation-friendly economy in the world, we must build the most business-friendly economy in the world. Right now it’s the exact opposite.” The United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. To fix this disaster, Rubio will enact pro-growth, pro-family tax reforms that cut all taxes for all businesses to 25 percent and allow all businesses to immediately spend every dollar they invest in the economy. To add to his credibility, Rubio has a score of 100 percent with both the National Federation of Independent Business and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

Why Should Students Care?
By the time the first presidential term is over, all current Conant High School students will be adults, either going to college or joining the workforce. The 2016 election is the most important decision that juniors and seniors will make all year. The next president of this proud country will be the first president the students will live under as adults. Rubio is pro-education, a strong power against terrorist groups and against tax increases and job cuts. These are the qualities that students and young adults should care about. According to CNN, Rubio is the young adult-demographic favorite Republican candidate and should be a favorite for every else, too. He knows that we don’t need to “Make America Great Again” because America is great – always has been, and always will be. Marco Rubio is the American Dream.