With the 2012 Presidential election approaching, students from Bowling Green State University weighed in on everything from the issues, to the GOP field, to Obama himself.
Some of the students agreed on what the most important issue is.
The most important issue is “having a plan to help solve our national debt crisis,” said Anthony Vardon, 19, a business major from Akron, Ohio.
Will Forrester, 20, also a business major from Sylvania, Ohio, agreed with Vardon but added a second issue.
“I also think the war in Iraq is big,” he said.
GOP contenders from left to right: Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman
The students had many ideas about who would win the nomination.
“I think Mitt Romney will win the Republican nomination,” Vardon said.
Forrester thought Herman Cain was coming on strong and may get the nomination.
According to a USA Today Gallup Poll, Romney is now tied with Cain for the lead in the Republican field.
Romney has raised $1.03 million from Michigan donors while President Obama came in second in fundraising in the state, with $718,519, according to an article for CNN.
According to the CNN article, Obama and his re-election team have been criticizing Romney for proposing tax breaks to the rich and spending cuts against the middle class. The article said that this criticism was due to Romney being the frontrunner.
The students noticed challenges Obama will need to overcome as the incumbent.
Obama campaigning for re-election
“Obama’s biggest weakness was promising too many things and not delivering,” Forrester said.
Vardon thinks that one of these things relates to the economy.
“He has been contributing an enormous amount of money to our national debt,” Vardon said.
According to an article for the New York Times, a report released by Obama’s economic team ten days before he took the oath of office in 2009 projected the benefits of the stimulus plan he was seeking. Now, looking back at the report, the stimulus did not do what was projected, which has rallied Republicans to call for less spending, the article said.
Alex Howard, 19, a business management major from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, thinks that high taxes will hurt Obama in his bid for re-election.
“Taxes have increased under Obama, and this may be due to his spending,” Howard said. “People don’t like their taxes to be raised, so they may turn to a Republican candidate.”
Students also noted some of Obama’s strengths.
His biggest strength, as Howard sees it, is his healthcare reform.
“I think it has come to define his first term and even though it got a lot of criticism, it helped a lot of people,” he said. “I think these people will vote for him again.”
Vardon said that Obama’s biggest strength in the election is that he will have the black vote.
Vardon and Howard both agreed that Obama will most likely be re-elected.
“Although it is not who I would vote for, I think Obama will win the election,” Vardon said.
Forrester, however, thinks Cain will win the election.
“I think Cain has the best chance because he will take more of the black votes from Obama,” he said.
I am very anxious to see who gets the Republican nomination and I have not been able to keep up with the news on the candidates so I was not informed who was in the running. This really helps me understand who they are and from this I can research them. Very good! I also agree that Obama really did promise too much and failed to deliver.
Good story. Nice content, I liked the pictures. The sources seemed like they knew what they were talking about, but finding someone who had no clue about anything would have been interesting too. The ending is a tad jarring too, but it works well.
I think you did a nice job of covering each candidate and students’ opinions of them.