In a little over a year, on November 8, 2016, Americans who are registered to vote will be able to play the very important role in deciding the next president of our country. As of right now, there are 17 Republicans running for Office, one of those 17 is a woman. There are also five Democrats running, one of the five is also a woman.

On the GOP side, things have been quite heated, mostly with well-known businessman and television personality, Donald Trump. According to a poll from Real Clear Politics, Trump is leading Jeb Bush, Florida’s former governor and President George H.W. Bush’s son and George W. Bush’s younger brother, by 11.3%. Trump has made very crude remarks on women.“It must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees.” Trump once said this to ex-Playboy model Brande Roderick. Trump saying this lead to an on outcry of women around the nation and world on sexism and sexual harassment. Hillary Clinton, wife of President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State, Clinton fired back at Trump, which gained her more popularity. It still is unclear if Trump will end up getting the nomination or will continue to campaign on his own. “It depends on the popular opinion [of people voting for Trump] because people really like rebels in America. In a political sense of opinion, voting for Trump would be stupid because he would screw everything up.” Said Sophomore Bo Peng.

The Democrats are fewer in number than the Republicans, but that does not mean they are lacking grit. Clinton currently leads Bernie Sanders, current Vermont Senator, former US Representative, former Chairman of The Senate on Veteran’s Affairs, and a former mayor, by 32.5%. Sanders is very progressive and has held many political positions of power and that has/will affect his candidacy.

In the 2012 Presidential Election, Missouri voted for the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney. 53.9% of Missourians voted for Romney while 44.3% voted for Obama. Although, in Saint Louis, Obama won the majority vote with astonishing statistics, only 16% of Saint Louis City citizens voted for Romney, 82.7% of people voted Obama. In the county, Obama won the majority vote also, but not by as such a staggering difference. 56.2% voted Obama, while 42.5% voted Romney. As of this upcoming election it looks like Missouri will continue to vote Republican, in the 2008 Presidential Election, Missouri voted Republican for then candidate, John McCain, but he only won the Missouri majority vote by 00.1%. “Missouri will vote Republican because Missouri has traditionally Republican roots and values. We are usually Republican when it comes to the popular vote,” says sophomore Hannah Senay.

The current US Senate is majority Republican, there are nine more Republicans than Democrats in the Senate. The GOP has not been in control of the Senate since 2007. What this means is that more conservative rather than liberal topics will be discussed or passed, since the ruling party is the conservative party. The majority party of the 2008 and 2012 Senate was Democrat, and a Democrat was elected into office those years. Does the majority party of the Senate play a role in what party gets elected into office? “I think people will look at the individual, not the party in control.” said math teacher, Mark Kozeny.

Current Vice President, Joe Biden, may run for President in 2016. It is a relatively common occurrence, Vice Presidents running for Office, since it gets them familiar with the way America and the agendas work. It also gets the American people familiar with them and what they are all about. Joe Biden is not currently running for Office, but there is talk he may. A recent PEW poll stated, 13% of people who took the poll said they would vote for Biden, and 29% said that they would probably vote for him. “No, I don’t think he would get the nomination, but he would have a big enough spotlight to challenge Clinton, and bring more competition to the Democratic race.” Said history teacher, Drew Jennings. These statistics are pretty good, considering he is not even in the race. Statistics this good, would definitely persuade Biden to run. If Biden ran, he would have the backing of President Obama, and all of Obama’s supporters. “Sure, they[the PEW poll statistics] seem pretty promising for a first pole,” said sophomore Grace Steck. Steck is correct, some of the Democrat candidates do not even have as good of polls as someone who is not even running. Time will only tell us if Biden chooses to run or not.  

There are many factors that affect the candidacy and election of a president, soon there will be one person from each party running, when this happens, the candidate’s positions on topics will be much more clear. When it comes down to it, Americans will vote for the candidate who they believe will represent America the best and will handle our domestic and foreign agendas best.