Five Aliso Niguel seniors have been interviewed on their opinions on the upcoming election. They were asked what they thought about the candidates this year, how they like the election process and their overall mood on the debates.
Out of the five students, those leaning towards Donald J. Trump were in favor of his plans on the economy and immigration. Those leaning towards Kamala Harris were in agreement of her plans regarding societal matters, in particular the cost of living and women’s rights to abortion.
A common theme was that people were concerned about the state of the economy. Some of the polled seniors perceive the current economic plan, led by current President Joe Biden, to be less effective than former President Trump’s economic plan.
“I just think if [Kamala Harris] goes off of what Biden has done then it wouldn’t be good” said one of the seniors, “All the prices will start going up and they would continue to go up”
Another senior stated, “I think [Donald Trump] will do a better job for the economy since he is a big businessman and we saw what he did in 2017 in his first term, and we saw how it declined back when Biden was elected.”
Other reasons that people lean toward Trump is that they agree with his immigration policy. Trump has frequently mentioned illegal immigration into America and the criminal problems it poses. In his communications and campaign, he said he plans to seal the borders to prevent illegal border crossings and to carry out what he considers to be the biggest deportation operation in American history.
On the other hand, Harris voters are supporting her because she is appealing to a broader audience.
During the debates, she was big on talking about helping new families, notably the middle class, that are unable to or are struggling to supply their needs due to high prices. She also explained that she would extend the child tax credit to these families.
“What I like a lot is that she wants to keep women’s reproductive rights.”, said another senior, “I feel like everyone should have a say with what they should do with their body.”
Abortion has been a big controversial topic throughout the years and is especially being discussed this year at the debates. Harris is shining light on the topic to make sure it is addressed. During the debates, Harris had also promised to sign into law the right to abortion if she were to become president.
Besides their views on who should be president, the five seniors were also asked how they felt about the elections and the presidential debates. Most had more of a negative emotion.
Gero Kakout (12) said, “Neither of the candidates were answering questions that much.” He explained that many of the candidates changed the topic without expanding on their own plan. He expressed that some bias was shown during the debates which prevented each candidate from being equally represented.
Raymond Harris (12) also noted how the candidates mistreated each other while debating, “Politics should be more respectful towards each other instead of arguing or hurling insults at each other.”
Finally, the seniors were asked for their opinions on whether popular vote should be more influential than electoral votes. Three of them preferred the popular vote while the other two said electoral votes.
One senior said, “I think electoral votes [represent each] state pretty well.” She went on to say that since each state has different amounts of representatives based on population, every state is equally represented.
In contrast, Dane Larson (12) said, “I feel like [the popular vote] should matter more because even though electoral votes are what ultimately decides it, it is supposed to be governed by the people.”
This year many in the class of 2025 have the opportunity to cast their ballots and plan on making a difference in this year’s election.
