As Americans head to the voting booths today, their votes will help determine the country’s political direction for the next four years.
Mississippi State University College Republican chairman Nathaniel Dobbs said electors should vote for the Republican ticket, Sen. John McCain and runningmate Gov. Sarah Palin, because McCain has experience dealing with tough matters.
“I think he’s been a fighter for change the entire time he’s been in Congress” he said. “If [voters] want somebody who fights for them, who understands what they’re going through, who respects the working class and somebody who supports middle class agenda, then [they will] support John McCain.”
MSU College Democrat President Chris Walton said voters should vote for the Democratic ticket, Sen. Barack Obama and runningmate Sen. Joe Biden, because America needs a change.
“We’re involved in two wars, our economy is in shambles, 45 million Americans are without health care and jobs, where we’ve just lost 750,000 jobs in this year alone,” he said. “Sen. Obama has the plan to help people like me, college students and people like my family who are the working middle class.”
Freshman chemical engineering major Amanda Moorer said she will be voting for McCain.
“I don’t agree like Obama’s views,” she said. “His tax plans are going to ruin us.”
Senior risk management major Rhon Richardson said she is an Obama supporter.
“He supports a lot of the issues that I’m more concerned with like student loan issues and anything dealing with education,” she said. “I do have some conservative views, especially when it comes to defense but I do think that we are a stronger country when we have well-educated people to help promote certain technologies, politics and diplomacy.”
Many MSU students have already used absentee ballots to vote.
Freshman animal and dairy science major Andrew Cox said he sent in his absentee ballot for McCain. He said he does not like Obama’s socialist, liberal viewpoints.
“I like less government involvement,” he said. “I don’t like Obama’s plan to take money from the working people and give it to people who aren’t working. I don’t believe that’s going to help our economy.”
Sophomore communication major Jarrod Bates said he voted absentee for Obama.
“I definitely agree [with Obama] that we shouldn’t be spending so much money over waging a war when we have a deficit over here and economic issues. The money should be focused elsewhere in order to get everything OK back home in the U.S.”
Undeclared freshman Ann Claire Burton said she does not think Obama would be the best for America.
“I don’t like the fact that he says he became a Christian for political reasons,” she said. “That’s what really bothered me, that he changed his religion for political reasons.”
Bates said whether the rumors are true or false they should not affect a voter’s decision.
“We’ve had presidents way back in the past that weren’t Christian but nobody thinks about that,” he said. “In the U.S. not everyone is Christian and religion shouldn’t matter at all in running a country.”
Freshman computer engineering major Amos Christiansen said there are bad things about both candidates.
“I like Obama on some of his stances, but I think his health care plan is socialism,” he said. “I don’t like [McCain’s] stance on net neutrality Internet regulations, and I don’t like his stance on abortion or the war in Iraq.”
Some students, like sophomore landscape contracting major Jamarris Gandy, will not be voting.
“I really don’t know their views, so why should I vote,” he said. “I know it’s my country and everything, but … I don’t know nothing about McCain or Obama.”