By Zoey Tincknell
The Scene staff
Many students, faculty and staff at Forest Park want a candidate who can beat President Donald Trump, but they haven’t yet picked a Democrat to support.
At least that’s the finding of a random survey conducted by The Scene on campus last week.
Nursing major Raven Ginger, 19, didn’t watch the first round of televised Democratic debates last month. But she wants to see a Democrat in office, preferably a woman.
“I think it’s time for a woman in office,” she said. “We need to get rid of this new abortion ban and start respecting women.”
Ginger was speaking of strict new abortion laws that have been passed or proposed in several states, including Missouri.
The six women presidential candidates who have garnered enough support in the form of polling numbers and contributions to appear in Democratic debates include U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Kobuchar, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and author Marianne Williamson. All are pro-choice.
Other debate-qualified candidates are former Vice President Joe Biden; Sens. Bernie Sanders, Michael Bennet and Cory Booker; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg; former U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro; New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio; former Rep. John Delaney; former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper; Washington Gov. Jay Inslee; former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Rep.
Tim Ryan; and businessman Andrew Yang.
Ginger would prefer any of these Democratic candidates over Trump. She believes his administration has been wrong to split up immigrant families at the border and needs to be stopped immediately.
Educational assistant Connie McArthur has been keeping up closely with political news and knows she won’t be voting for Trump. She watched the Democratic debates, which featured 10 candidates on June 26 and 10 on June 27.
“Coming into the debates, I was very hopeful for Biden,” she said. “But after watching, I was very disappointed in his performance.”
Despite her disappointment, McArthur hasn’t given up on Biden’s candidacy. She also was impressed with Harris, Castro and Booker and liked Warren more than she expected.
“I like Bernie Sanders, but his policies are a little extreme and scary to me,” she said.
Radiology student Britany McKnight, 26, didn’t watch the Democratic debates, but she plans to vote for a Democrat in the presidential election. She wants someone new in office who will be respectable and won’t cause such an “uproar” in the country.
“I don’t look up to (Trump),” she said. “We need someone we can trust in office.”
Social work major Carmen Whigham, 47, didn’t need to watch the Democratic debates to know that she will be supporting Biden.
“He has the experience,” she said. “What better person to have in office than a recent vice president?”
While Whigham doesn’t want Trump to continue in office, she said she appreciates the fact that he talks clearly and does what he says he will do.
Karen Mayes, director of the nursing department, didn’t see the debates and only knows what has been reported on the TV news. She said she hasn’t developed an opinion on which presidential candidate to support, noting it’s still early in the process.
“Competition is always great,” she said. “I just want the person who can do the best job for our country in office.”
General education student George Brooks, 29, didn’t watch the debates, but he’s leaning toward the Democratic Party.
Brooks said Trump doesn’t understand the problems and challenges that face the lower and middle classes and the way he carries himself is “problematic.”
“(This mixture) doesn’t make him a great president,” Brooks said.
Only one person interviewed by The Scene expressed support for Trump, and she declined to give her name.
The second round of Democratic debates will be broadcast at 7 p.m. CDT on July 30-31 on CNN. The candidates will be in Detroit.