Young voters discuss political issues, potential decision for presidential election

Mar. 11—Some Dalton State College students are thinking hard about political issues as the 2024 presidential race continues.

Ringgold native Bodee Baldivid, an 18-year-old who considers himself to be conservative, said his decision has become clearer in light of recent events.

"With Nikki Haley dropping out of the Republican race a few days ago, most likely the major candidate left is (former President Donald) Trump, so therefore that is most likely who I will be voting for," he said.

When thinking about major political issues he believes should be addressed, Baldivid said the "most evident issue right now" is "securing the (southern) border."

"I feel like there have been lots of complaints and back and forth between party to party talking about how the border needs to be secure," he said. "And I think that there are other ways in going about doing that. As we can see with the murder of Laken Riley (a nursing student who was found dead on the University of Georgia campus, a man who reportedly entered the country illegally and was allowed to stay is charged with malice murder and other charges), it unfortunately had to get to that point for people to start realizing that this is an issue."

Dalton resident Michael McDade, a 20-year-old conservative, said he has firmly made his decision on who he will vote for.

"It's Trump," McDade said. "We need better border control so the (Laken Riley) incident at the University of Georgia doesn't happen again. That's really why he's the one I'm voting for."

Alex McKinney, a 19-year-old from Cohutta, said he is more "left-leaning" but that he would most likely vote neither Democratic nor Republican. Instead, he said he aligns "more with Green Party values."

"I haven't really made my decision," McKinney said. "I've kind of lost support for (President) Joe Biden after he failed to deliver on the whole student loan debt forgiveness. And he's also continuing to fund Israel, which is a thing that relates to me. I just don't support the warfare over there. So I haven't really made up my mind yet. I suppose a third party candidate, but I haven't done a whole lot of research on who I think might fit my bill."

McKinney said a few factors that will ultimately affect his decision include improvements to social programs.

"Like with the welfare crisis creating a massive debt deficit for the U.S., that's something that's important to me," he said. "I just don't like the way that debt is being handled in the United States. I also feel like abortion is something that's very important to people in my generation. It's something that a lot of young people interact with and have experience with in their late teens or early 20s, and I think that that is definitely something that decides who they vote for."

"I feel like there are three main issues that are important," said 25-year-old Quentin Postell, who was born in Fort Oglethorpe. "I feel like the biggest thing right now is women's rights."

Postell mentioned the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, which eliminated what had been previously been the constitutional right to an abortion.

"It's crazy," he said. "That was literally set in stone years ago, why are we (messing) with it? We've got to keep church and state separate. I think church is important and people need religion, but it should not overpower the people, especially women's rights."

Postell, who is biracial, likened the overturning to possibly taking away other freedoms such as biracial marriage.

"That would be crazy," he said. "So that's something I definitely think we need to work on."

Postell said other important issues include LGBTQ+ rights.

"I think it's crazy that gay marriage is still an issue," he said. "I think that all humans should be allowed to love, of course within consent and with complete autonomy and adult acknowledgment. And with religion, it's important and it has its place, but I think the biggest danger is whenever we have people with those beautiful experiences try to influence an ecosystem in which some of those ideologies destroy and dismantle others."

Describing his views as "liberal," Postell said he has not made a final decision on who to vote for.

"I'm completely vocal about it who I'm not voting for, though," he said. "I'm definitely not going to vote for Trump. And I don't think I'm going to vote for Biden either. I'm still looking to be honest."

He said his vote could go to an independent candidate this year, such as Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr.

"I heard (he) was looking into it," Postell said. "Right now with everything going on with Trump and with Biden, I'm probably not going to deal with that because I have a two-month-old daughter. So for me it's more like 'Am I setting the world up better for my daughter and my wife?' So I would probably run with RFK Jr."

Evelyn Zuniga, a 21-year-old criminal justice major from Dalton, said she is more "in the middle" when thinking about choosing a candidate to vote for.

"As long as the person has the right goals in mind, then that's where I'll vote towards," Zuniga said. "I know there's controversy with Trump coming back, but once you look at the positives and the effects of all of the candidates, they all have the same goal. It's just which ways are they going to take to get there."

Zuniga said one major issue that affects her on a personal level is continued gun violence at home and abroad.

"We need to do something about it," she said. "I recently learned that it's the third month of the year and there's already been various mass shootings worldwide, and you hardly hear about them. I feel like something has to be done with gun control, so I'm looking at whoever wants to make a difference towards that and then I will kind of lean that way. Whoever can get us right back on track economically as well, that would work. Inflation has gotten so high."

Which is also an issue that 21-year-old Dalton native Richard Hasselberg is concerned about.

"We need wage increases, because everything is getting a lot more expensive, but the ability to pay for those necessities is getting harder and harder because nobody is getting more money," he said.

Hasselberg said he "leans more Democratic," but has typically aligned more with third party candidates in the past.

"But I don't ever vote third party," he said. "It'd be nice to, but it hasn't ever worked out. If they had an actual chance, then yeah, but I guess my vote would go to Joe Biden this year. I don't really like either Biden or Trump, though."

Hasselberg said that sentiment is shared by many young people he has come in contact with.

"I feel like a lot of young people are disgruntled with both potential candidates," Hasselberg said. "There's always the diehards for both, but the majority of people I know don't care for either candidate, so they just don't feel like a vote is necessary because they're not going to like either outcome."

Also holding more moderate views is 20-year-old Ringgold native Ashlyn Farmer.

"But I would vote more Republican right now," she said.

Farmer said there are two major issues plaguing young Americans today that could affect their voting decision.

"Inflation is always a big thing," she said. "And for students in college, anything having to do with student loans, like student loan debt forgiveness, is an important issue that I think needs to be looked at."

While many young voters have emphatically made up their mind, many said the freedom of voting has lost much of its priority for current and upcoming generations.

"A lot of young people that I know don't really care as much about voting and they don't really participate in politics to the same extent as previous generations," said McKinney. "But I'd say in the next couple of generations, as they grow up, they'll have a lot of sway because a lot of the younger generation is becoming overwhelmingly left-leaning."

Zuniga agreed that a lot of her friends do not think voting is as much of a necessity today.

"It's important to pay attention to what each candidate wants," she said. "I personally think (young voters) will make an impact on the election this year, but maybe for the wrong reasons. The generation that's coming up, a lot of people seem to be like 'Oh, I'm just going to vote for this person.' They'll feel kind of obligated in a way to vote, but they'll just pick whoever. They won't focus on the details."

Farmer said she believes the potential impact of young voters on the 2024 election is looking slim.

"Honestly, I think most people around our age probably aren't voting or they don't know enough about it to vote, so they don't," she said. "And I think some people might also feel like 'Oh, it's just one vote. How's that going to change anything?'"

Baldivid said he believes more and more young voters are scared to admit their affiliation with either party.

"It's honestly a tough time to be able to stand up for yourself and for what you believe, and I think that definitely impacts the way people vote," he said. "But I feel like that's going to be the difference in not only the U.S. as a whole, but Georgia's history with any kind of voting. It's whichever younger generation, whether they support Democratic or Republican, isn't scared. They'll be the deciding factor. The people who aren't scared to support their party. That is the party that's going to survive."

Postell is optimistic about the responsibilities and potential influence the next generation will have.

"I've noticed a lot of young people in the area are very educated," he said. "I feel like if our generation can start feeling more confident with being who we want to be and identifying with our futures instead of our grandparents and trying to please others, then we'll see the fullest passing of the torch ever. Because then we're no longer looking for identification in our parents, we're looking at it in our generation."