The 2016 United States Presidential Campaign is highlighted
by unconventional candidates Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina in the
Republican Party, while Hillary Clinton still holds the lead for the Democratic
Party.
Leading the way for the
Republican Part is a candidate with a very different background than you would
typically see. Donald Trump, a multi-billionaire businessman and one-time
reality show host, has been leading most polls since his announcement of
candidacy in early June. Despite his success so far, it has not been all
smooth-sailing for Trump. He has been criticized for his past bankruptcy
declarations, his derogatory comments toward women, and his overall demeanor.
Despite all of these criticisms, Trump still finds himself as the front-runner
for the Republican Party.
Second in most polls for the Republican Party
is Dr. Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon who was the first to ever separate a pair of
conjoined twins. Carson declared his candidacy for president in May, but it was
not until August that he found himself rising in popularity. This came after
the first debate of the Presidential election hosted by Fox News, despite only
being asked a small number of questions.
Adding to
the list of non-career politicians running for president in the Republican
Party is former Hewlett-Packard (H.P.) CEO Carly Fiorina. Fiorina was
relatively unheard of as a candidate until her performance at Fox News’s “First
Debate” on August 6th. The “First Debate” field was comprised of
candidates that were outside of the top ten in the polls. After Fiorina’s performance
in this debate, she rose in the polls and found herself debating with the top
ten in CNN’s Republican debate in mid-September.
Along with
these three candidates, there have been numerous other candidates who have
fluctuated in the polls for the last three months. According to
RealClearPolitics.com, the average of the polls for the republican party are as
follows: businessman Donald Trump (1st in the polls); neurosurgeon
Dr. Ben Carson (2nd); U.S. Senator for Florida Marco Rubio (3rd);
U.S. Senator for Texas Ted Cruz (4th); former Florida Governor Jeb
Bush (5th); former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (6th);
former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (7th); New Jersey Governor
Chris Christie (8th); Ohio Governor John Kasich (9th); and
U.S. Senator for Kentucky Rand Paul (10th.)
The
Democratic field, on the other hand, is very small in comparison with only
three candidates. Leading the way is former U.S. Secretary of State, and former
First Lady Hillary Clinton. Clinton has been viewed as the frontrunner for the
Democratic Primary since President Obama won his 2nd term as
President in 2012. Clinton’s place as the Democratic candidate for president
seemed like a lock until ongoing scrutiny of her email activity really caught
fire this year.
Allegations of Clinton’s use of
her private email account to access classified government documents have been
talked about for a while, but as her campaign for the presidency picked up, so
did the questions about her email activities. As more and more questions were
asked, Clinton’s answers became more and more inconsistent. In August of this
year, the FBI finally became involved by taking custody of Clinton’s server.
This scandal that Clinton is now facing opened the door for other democratic
candidates to make a run for president.
Standing second in most polls
for the Democratic nomination is United States Senator for Vermont Bernie
Sanders, who is a self-described “socialist”. Sanders, who is the only other
democratic candidate with significant poll numbers, saw his numbers more than
double as Clinton’s scandal grew this summer. Sanders’s running in the
Democratic primary marks the first time that he has identified himself as a
Democrat. Previously he described himself as “third-party” or “unaffiliated.”
Last in the polls for the
Democratic race is former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. O’Malley is behind
Clinton and Sanders in the polls by a significant margin, but with a field as
compressed as the Democratic Party’s, a surge back into contention could easily
happen for O’Malley’s campaign.
While we have a long way to go
before we see who the final candidate will be for each party, we can be sure
that it is going to be a very interesting road to get there.
- Sept. 28, 2015
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