The Election

Candidates stand out during primaries

Zahra Ali, Opinion Editor

From socialism to mass deportation, this presidential election has brought a flood of oddities to the surface. There is Hilary Clinton—a woman making a stand, Bernie Sanders—a Jewish candidate who continues to hold up in the polls, and of course, Donald Trump—a business man who smashes all election norms to bits. As primaries heat up, candidates from both parties are bringing the heat. But this primary season stands out historically, as it represents a heaping scoop of political firsts.

For starters, a presidential primary is one method most states use to select a delegate which will lead to determining a party’s nominee. If the primary is ‘closed,’ a registered voter can only vote in the election of the party that they are registered under. In an open primary, a registered voter can vote in either party’s primary.

A caucus, on the other hand, is a little different. This is a less common method that is formatted like a meeting. Registered voters of the party attend the caucus, where delegates discuss and debate. There is usually an informal vote to determine which delegates are chosen.

The Iowa caucus is the first of both primaries and caucuses, giving it particular media coverage. Despite having a relatively low voter turnout, it sets the stage for which candidates will remain relevant for the rest of the election process. Last month, Ted Cruz came out on top for the GOP, while Clinton pulled off a narrow victory for the Democrats by just .3%.

“Iowa has sent notice that the Republican nominee and the next president of the United States will not be chosen by the media, will not be chosen by the Washington establishment, will not be chosen by the lobbyists, but will be chosen by the most incredible, powerful force — where all sovereignty resides in our nation — by we the people, the American people,” said Cruz in a speech following his victory.

However, the following New Hampshire primary gave a chance the second placers from Iowa to step up to the plate. In New Hampshire, Sanders and Trump redeemed their positions by winning. The point here is that besides ultimately deciding the party nominee, primaries show which candidates truly capture the nation’s attention in the final leg of the race.

Besides being of the Jewish faith, Sanders has referred to himself as a ‘democratic socialist.’

“I myself don’t use the word socialism,” he said in 1976 in the Vermont Cynic, a student publication at the University of Vermont, “because people have been brainwashed into thinking socialism automatically means slave-labor camps, dictatorship and lack of freedom of speech.”

However, despite this declaration, the socialist label has stuck. This is the first time that a self-described democratic socialist has won a primary election for a major party.

Although women have been running for president since 1872, Clinton is the first woman to stand a fair chance at becoming the nominee.

On the Republican side, there is the extraordinary phenomenon that is Donald Trump: a billionaire businessman turned politician has left political scientists questioning their existence. Not only has he repeatedly made offensive remarks about almost every minority, he continues to excel in national polls.

And then of course, there are Cruz, Rubio, and Carson, who are all of ethnic minorities, but are running from the Republican Party, which is not usually as aligned with minority issues as the Democratic Party.

What’s more, there have been a few curveballs hurled at full force—such as the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia, a conservative, has left an empty seat that has sparked a debate over whether Obama should appoint a justice as part of his presidential duty or be forced to leave the appointment to the next president due to an uncooperative senate.

“I don’t think the American people want a Court that will strip our religious liberties,” said GOP Ted Cruz on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, “I don’t think the American people want a Court that will mandate unlimited abortion-on-demand, partial-birth abortion with taxpayer funding, and no parental notification. And I don’t think the American people want a Court that will write the Second Amendment out of the Constitution.”

It is clear by Cruz’s hyperbolized perception of a liberal justice that party polarization is a very real happening. The GOP has thus far been extreme in suggesting radical ideas such as carpet bombing, water boarding, and building a physical wall at the southern border. Meanwhile, the Democrats have been outspoken about LGBT+ rights and addressing the national income gap.

As this strange pool of political anomalies races towards November, time will only tell whose political punches will carry the hardest hits.