BY MAXINE MOORE / VN STAFF WRITER
The Iowa caucus will be held next week, but Detroit Mercy students who lean Democratic have no consensus favorite among the dozen seeking the party nomination.
They are united by one factor, though: President Donald Trump.
Freshman Zaria Reid is typical. She does not want Trump to be reelected.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Reid said. “He’s a good businessman. But he’s ignorant and not held accountable for his actions.”
The Iowa caucus marks the beginning of the primary voting season, when Democrats will choose the candid who will face Trump in November.
Among the leading candidates are senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
The Varsity News sought to gauge the political pulse of students on campus but many refused to go on record or even answer questions dealing with politics.
The main reasons were a fear of offending someone or simply not being in tune with what is going on in the world of politics.
This held true for both liberal and conservative students.
Zaria Reid said she was not afraid to speak her mind.
Reid admitted that she is not extremely informed about what is going on with the race, but she did know “a little something.”
Reid said she is one of the more politically aware members of her friend group.
She believes that people her age are not informed about the presidential election because much of the advertising happens on television.
She said she and her friends get most of their news from social media and rarely sit down and watch TV anymore.
One candidate who she thinks brings good promise is Bernie Sanders, but she is unsure how his radical ideas will work out.
“I love his intentions, but he is kind of unrealistic,” she said.
Freshman Ambra Muhaj agrees with Reid’s dislike of Trump.
She said she could not stand reading the president’s “ridiculous” tweets.
Other students who asked to remain nameless also expressed frustration with the president’s use of social media.
Eighteen-year-old Andrea Morales said she strongly dislikes Trump because of how he treats immigrants.
She said evidence shows that immigrants help the economy. It’s unfair to portray them as the enemy, she said.
“I am going to vote because I want to set an example to people my age and show them that our votes count,” she said.
A 24-year-old graduate student named former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg as one candidate she has her eyes on.
She said that she feels the country needs a better leader and she will be exercising her right to vote to help that happen.
“Trump just isn’t emotionally intelligent enough,” she said.
In fact, several other students said they feel Trump lacks empathy.
Another candidate who seems to be getting a small response from young people is businessman Andrew Yang.
“He’s very professional, and I just liked the way he spoke,” said one student.
Of the 15 students interviewed for this story, freshman Abbie McDowell was one of the better informed about this presidential race.
McDowell said she enjoyed watching all of the Democratic debates.
She listed Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg as candidates with potential.
McDowell favors Buttigieg, but fears America will not give him a chance because he is gay and married to another man.
She is leaning toward Warren, but feels that she is “too much” at times, and that America needs a “mediator” to lead it.
She also made sure to mention that she cannot wait to get to the polls and vote this November because she knows how important it is for people her age to vote.
Several students said they would not be voting in November because they are uniformed about what is going on with the country.
To those students, McDowell suggested: Start catching up.
