Teachers Take the White House
On November 8th, 2016 the nation will vote our next president into office. 2016 has been an election that is anything but routine. In the era of social media and a nation that seems to be fed up with political correctness, the way candidates have been campaigning this election cycle has been modernized and uncut.
My Prowler colleague Rya Deckard sent out an anonymous survey to Licking Valley High School teachers last week asking who they are casting their ballots for and why. The results are shown below.
As the graph illustrates, 50 percent of LVHS teachers are voting for Hillary Clinton. This is the majority amongst the 14 teachers who responded to the survey. The general consensus of Hillary supporters explain that she is getting their vote because she is the most qualified candidate. A teacher is quoted saying, “Contrary to [...] public opinion, she is fundamentally honest and has tirelessly fought for the rights of average Americans during her years in public service.” A fellow supporter in Clinton writes in their response, “Some of the other candidates do not even know how to conduct themselves as decent human beings.”
The next highest vote, with 28.6 percent (or 4 teachers) is in favor of Donald Trump. Most supporters of Trump are looking long term. It has been estimated that the next president of the United States could appoint as many as four Supreme Court Justices during their presidency. This will skew the Supreme Court heavily for decades to come. A teacher is quoted saying “Hillary is not trustworthy and she would not be trusted to select a conservative Supreme Court Justice.” Another agrees, saying, “I feel that he would do a much better job of filling the federal judicial positions, we need to end the mentality that government will take care of us, and I trust former Secretary of State Clinton the least [sic].”
Fulfillment of Supreme Court Justices however, is most typically based upon party affiliation. While some supporters of Trump are going to be checking his name on their ballots, they actually don’t support him at all. Rather, they are strong Republicans. An educator here explained, “While Donald Trump is not by any means a perfect choice, his views on economic issues as well as national security are more in line with my views.” Another stated, “The party platform (of Donald Trump) is more aligned to what I believe.”
Others disagree with the notion of voting for a candidate solely on their party. A teacher acknowledges that, “this is the first election of my lifetime that I feel is not about political views at all, but instead purely about only having one qualified candidate to choose from.” A teacher who will be voting for Clinton described her as the “least worst option.”
There will be a write-in from a teacher: “I am writing in Paul Ryan, current Speaker of the House.” Reason being, “He is actually sane, honest and trustworthy.”
One teacher from LVHS is not voting this year because, “I'm not voting because these candidates are horrible. I wouldn't want any of them to be president.”
Another teacher is undecided. With two weeks until voting day, they have a big decision to make.
