Upper Schoolers Share Their Views on the Upcoming Election
As U.S. citizens gear up for the 2024 election, they must once again make the choice to vote between Trump and Biden for President of the United States. This election, however, represents much more than a fight over the presidency. Many people still have their reservations over issues that divide the nation: conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip have dominated national news; former President Trump has four criminal cases; and issues regarding foreign policy, climate change, and immigration are subject to even further scrutiny. Political polarization is at an all-time high, so the young generation of voters who can vote for the first time will have an enormous effect on this election. At Riverdale, this means that many juniors and seniors will have their first opportunity to vote in a national election. To gain insight into how this new generation is going about the voting process, The Riverdale Review conducted a poll amongst students in Riverdale’s Upper School to see where they stand on this election.
After the polling results came in, some trends became abundantly clear. Of the 57 students who responded to the survey, 37 considered themselves to be leftist or liberal-leaning while only three considered themselves centrists and about 17 students considered themselves conservative. At Riverdale, the meager number of people who identified as center-leaning could reflect the growing notion that less Americans are moderates. Another significant piece of data is that nearly 65% of people polled would rather vote for Joe Biden while only 20% would for Trump. However, nearly 60% of those polled believe that Donald Trump is the most likely candidate to win the presidency while only 28% believe Joe Biden will win. In 2016, a Trump victory was unfathomable to millions, yet he won anyway. As this trend demonstrates, it is clear that many students at Riverdale do see Trump has a legitimate chance to win this election despite his multiple ongoing criminal cases.
To gain further insight into the election, The Riverdale Review interviewed students from across the Upper School. Ninth-grader Will David commented on polarization in politics and the state of our democracy. Despite considering himself “a traditional conservative”, he said that in a modern political society he “despises Trump” and “aligns himself with the Democratic party”. However, David expressed how traditional Republicans will likely “continue to vote Democrat as long as Trump is on the ticket for the Republicans”. Due to Trump’s continued successful attempts to form a more radical Republican party, it has left many conservative and centrist people with no other logical option other than to vote for a Democrat or third-party candidate.
However, senior Ife Watts expressed a similar discontent with the Democratic ticket:, “I vote Democrat because I feel like I have to vote Democrat. I don’t like the Democratic party. Not a fan of Joe Biden. But, I have to vote for Joe Biden because voting third-party is almost a waste of a vote.” As demonstrated by Watts’ response, liberals are also unsatisfied with the candidate representing their party.
Much like some conservatives are planning on voting for Biden, the same phenomenon seems to be happening on the other side of the aisle, with even moderate liberals voting for Trump specifically in opposition to Biden. For example, one respondent to the poll wrote, “We need a president who will unite the country and strengthen the national character, but we'll settle for Donald Trump.”
Additionally, 12th-grader Theo Aborn lamented that he doesn’t like either political party very much but would have to vote Democrat. “I think the most important thing in a president is finding a person who citizens can believe in to consistently make the right decision. Right now we don’t have that. Ideally, it would be more than this, but a vote for anyone but Trump or Biden is a waste of a vote. I don’t like Biden but I agree with him more than I agree with Trump.”
When Watts and David were questioned on the issues important to them they both had different responses. David was keen on the US “clamping down on immigration and working on their foreign aid policies” due to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. Watts, on the other hand, noted two extremely significant issues: the economy and abortion. As a senior, Watts stated that “ there is less than a 10% chance I will get a job going out of college. Job postings are open but no one is hiring. Even when they are hiring, they ask for five years of experience for a minimum wage job. The federal government needs to make antitrust laws more useful.” This issue is becoming more and more prevalent with unemployment low which makes it difficult for young people to gain jobs. Watts also expressed that “the state of equal rights is extremely important. Now that Roe vs Wade has been overturned, it is important that [abortion] is protected in all states.” Both interviewees agreed on one thing despite their political differences: our democracy is in grave danger. In David’s case, he described his largest concern “all of these foreign issues are trivial when on one side you have a man who I do not agree with, and on the other side a man who is trying with all his might to destroy the very soul of this country.” Watts lamented that “our government likes to pretend it doesn’t have to listen to young people but they really have to because in five to ten years from now we will be the major voting population and will be the ones with the democracy in our hands.” As the US heads into this election, many young voters think it will be essential to sustain the fabric of Democracy that this nation was built on.
The upcoming election will play a large role in the future of this country. As illustrated by the polling and interviews, it is clear that Biden is the favored candidate among Riverdale students; however, Trump is still ahead in national polls at the time this article was written. No matter what, the youth vote could very well dictate the future of the United States.
