Election 2016: Voter Profile

A profile of three voters, for my Media Reporting class

Upwards of 57.6 million people voted in the presidential primaries this season, just shy of the 2008 record, according to Pew Research. On November 8th, those millions of people across the country are scheduled to have their voices heard again, to elect a candidate for the highest office in the land, President of the United States.

While the election of the Commander in Chief is such a large, covered national spectacle, one’s decision of who to vote for is often a difficult, methodical and personal process.

Andy King, a resident of a rural small town in West Tennessee, Dyer, is at a standstill. He sits on the couch and says, “Well, do you college kids have it figured out yet of who to vote for?”

A retired farmer and Southern Baptist preacher, King has about seen it all. After having moved across the southern United States as a pastor, traveling to different communities while developing his farm and serving as a missionary in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans and a Native American reservation in Arizona, he has seen not only different people and cultures, but also the varying amount of need that exists in different part of the United States. “I don’t know who to vote,” King said. “It’s like picking between a liar and a bully.”

Addressing the question that King led with, these two college students indeed don’t have the choice of a candidate exactly figured out, but are instead making a compromise.

Mary Klepzig, a sophomore student at the University of Tennessee, responded, “Probably Trump because I don’t trust Hillary.” Not being for sure if Trump was serious or could handle the office and the obvious pressures that come with it, Klepzig stands by her observation that, “She (Hillary) outright stands for several things I don’t believe in.”

As far as the policy that Klepzig is considering, the candidates’ stances on immigration are what makes the decision so tough. “Immigration is important to me so that makes it go the other way,” citing Trump’s strong, unorthodox immigration policy of building a wall in Mexico. Klepzig, having twice been to Central American countries for mission work, serving the communities through both supplying food and medical care, knows firsthand the need that people in foreign countries have and understands the opportunity that the United States of America can provide.

Despite Trump’s harsh immigration policy, Klepzig says abortion is a “deciding factor” for her. When it comes down to the everyday position of Commander and Chief and leader of the Free World, Klepzig said, “I want someone who I believe can get the job done or will at least employ people who can.”

Once again, pointing out Hillary Clinton’s reputation of alleged dishonesty, another college student, Jonah Jenkins states, “I wouldn’t label myself a supporter of Donald Trump, or back him on any issue in particular, but at this point I want to vote for a candidate that I feel is honest about their intentions.”

Jenkins, a sophomore at Cleveland State Community College in Cleveland, Tenn., sides with Klepzig in the hope that Trump can surround himself with good company to be a successful leader for the country. “I believe that he’s forward,” Jenkins says. “And while I don’t agree with him on everything, with the right surrounding staff and willingness to heed advice, I know he hasn’t proven that skill yet, he would steer the country back towards a more conservative ideology.”

A country with a “more conservative ideology” is what Jenkins ultimately desires for this critical election. In addition, he likes Trump’s “business sense when talking about the economy.” But like many others, Jenkins says, “My main concern is foreign policy.” Facing the first time he’s ever voted in a presidential election, Jenkins states, “If the election happened today, I’d vote for Trump.”

While both college students, Mary Klepzig and Jonah Jenkins, are weighing multiple policies and characteristics of the two major candidates, they are unable to confidently respond to Andy King’s daring question of, “Do you college kids have it figured out yet of who to vote for?”

Who knows about each of the 57.6 million people that voted in the primaries, but these three individuals, bridging two drastically different generations, are carefully treading the muddy waters that are the process of electing another human being to the highest office in the land, the President of the United States.