Bluefield State University students ponder issues

Apr. 2—BLUEFIELD — Americans will be deciding in about seven months who will be the country's next president, so young voters are pondering the issues important to them and their possible choices when they go to the polls this November.

Students on the Bluefield State University campus shared their thoughts recently about the upcoming presidential election and the candidates. The participants in the Pulse of the Voters informal survey were asked about the issues concerning them and who they might vote for during the General Election this November.

"Oh, the kind of issues that are important first of all to me are the economic and social issues because right now it's getting pretty hard to live a sustainable lifestyle, especially with these current wages right now," said Charles Dawson, 19, of Georgia. "When it comes to these elections, though, I feel like the focus just needs to be on your local governments and your local elections before we can worry about the presidential elections because smaller elections lead up to those things."

"I feel like there needs to be more focus there, and socially I feel like we need a president that can," he said about possible candidates. "We've been in a divisive position the past decade and I would really like to find a president who could bring us back together again."

Katrina Davis, 22, of Ohio also said she was concerned about the economy. How a candidate would tackle economic issues was important.

"The inflation rates and how they're going to bring that down because since I am a senior, I really am looking at those things when I go out into the real world to buy a house or anything like that and I think they're really high. What they are going to do to lower them and minimum wage, those type of things," Davis said.

"I'm really not sure who I'm going to vote on, which party," Davis replied when asked who might get her vote for president.

The upcoming election was not something everybody was thinking about regularly.

"To be honest, I try not to pay attention too much to the news," said Ty Anderson, 20, of Bluewell. "It's kind of depressing, honestly. I try to think about who will put the country first and not their own personal agenda. That's another reason I don't watch the news a whole lot. I just think about who I would feel safer with, who's in office. I lean to one side politically and I try to go off of that. Honestly I don't pay all that much attention because of all the drama and uncertainty that I see in the news."

Anderson did have a presidential candidate in mind.

"I'll probably vote for Trump. I lean not to the far right, but I align more with Republican values," Anderson said. "I feel like he's the best option, honestly. I know he's had a lot of personal issues recently in the media and I tend to overlook that honestly, but I think he would be the better choice just based on my opinions."

Laws regarding how a person can defend his or herself was on another potential voter's mind.

"One of the first that comes to mind, at least for me, is self-defense laws," said Chandler Russell, 22, of Bluefield. "In West Virginia we have more of castle law I guess, so it's more clearly defined on what we can or can't do, but in other states they still don't have that; especially in Virginia I understand it's more you have to run if you can and you don't really get to stand your ground if you can. And everybody kind of harps on gun laws and gun regulations. I feel like we need to figure out what is OK to do in certain situations before we start doing the individual weapons."

"Honestly, the only person I know right now who is even guaranteed to be in it is Trump," Russell said about presidential candidates and who he might vote for. "I think the Democratic primary is still going on. I don't know who the Democratic candidate is yet and what they'll stand for yet, so I really can't say for certain. I'm leaning towards Trump, but I don't know who the other side is yet."

The economy came up again with another future voter.

"I think about all the inflation that has happened over the past four years and everything that's going on with that," said Garrett Hicks, 18, of Bluefield. "I think whoever we put in office should work on the economy better."

Hicks was still thinking about who should get his vote for president.

"I haven't really put too much thought into it," he said. "I have to research that a little more. I haven't decided."

Increasing prices was influencing another participant's decision.

"I feel like it would be the economy," Kerry Collins, 20, of Bluefield said about the issues concerning him. "Inflation is getting really bad. A lot of things that used to be inexpensive are getting very expensive, stuff that people use everyday in their everyday lives. Some people are having trouble affording it because the inflation has gotten up so high. A lot of groceries. A lot of people eat eggs and eggs are getting really expensive. I know a lot of people are buying chickens just so they don't have to buy eggs in the stores."

"Probably Donald Trump," Collins said about who could get his vote. "When he was in office last time — I think I was 16 — so I feel like everything was a lot cheaper in that aspect and I know he's really bad with the social media and a lot of people don't like that, but I feel like as a general president he did a pretty good job with foreign affairs, dealing with other countries and stuff like that."

Rileigh Corner, 21, of McDowell County considered her future profession when thinking about the presidential election.

"Okay, well, I am an education major so obviously I will be graduating in November which is around the time that the election is going on and I am concerned about the school systems and like funding for that and resources that will be provided," she said. "And just all things that pertain to education because that's what I'm passionate about. It's my major and that's something that's always brought up during that time."

"I think that would be my biggest concern, yes, and I'll look further into voting," she said about possible candidates. "I haven't looked that deep into it, but I know that's coming up so that is something I will take priority into looking into."

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com