Republican candidates vying for the White House in the 2016 Presidential election are battling each other for their party’s support.
There are currently 14 republican candidates running for President, including: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, and Donald J. Trump.
All the candidates feel they have something to offer regarding their bid for presidency.
“Although I do not agree with all values that most candidates from the Republican Party bring to the platform, I do believe that there are some candidates whose values and views on the state of the country match up to mine,” said Teria Dase, a junior communicative disorders major from Heidelberg Miss.
Donald J. Trump, real estate mogul and reality TV star, has dominated the 2016 campaign with outlandish statements against his own party members.
“Donald Trump is all talk to me, I think he does not want to truly see a change in the United States and is only campaigning for the position for power,” stated Dameshia Wheaton, junior businesses administration major from Memphis, Tenn.
Trump is currently tied in the polls with Dr. Ben Carson at 26 percent according to NBC News polls.
Carson has served as Professor of neurosurgery, oncology, and pediatrics, and was the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. At just 33 he became the youngest division director in Johns Hopkins history.
Carly Fiorina, who served as the CEO of Hewlett Packard, the 11th most profitable company in America, is the only Republican female Republican running for the position. She has never held a political but is considered one of the most powerful female leaders in American history, according to opportunitylives.com.
Fiorina previously ran for United States Senator in California in 2010 but was defeated by Sen. Barbara Boxer. Fiorina’s current standing in the polls is at 4 percent in NBC News polls.
Unlike Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, has years of political experience. Huckabee was the Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas (1993-1996) and the former Governor of Arkansas (1996-2007) and also served as chair of the Southern Governor’s Association from 1999 to 2000. He was also a 2008 Presidential candidate. Huckabee’s current standing in the polls is at 3 percent in NBC News polls.
Marco Rubio, a U.S. Senator from Florida, is one of the eight most influential senators on immigration reform.
Rubio is the only candidate who can claim any sort of momentum. He’s gone from 5th place to 3rd place at 11 percent according to NBC News polls.
Rick Santorum, a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1995-2007) and former U.S. Representative (1991-1995), was a candidate for President in 2012 but dropped out the race in April of 2012.
Santorum, along with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former New York governor George Pataki have no rankings in the NBC News polls.
Chris Christie is one of the most underrated candidates according to Republican-Candidates.org. He served as the US attorney for the District of New Jersey before running and winning the election to the office of Governor of that state.
He has a reputation as a straight talking, no nonsense conservative who favors diplomacy. He publicly praises Barack Obama and his views.
According to The Washington Post, former Florida governor, Jeb Bush, has managed to raise more than $108 million for his campaign, $70 million more than his nearest fundraising competitor, junior United State Senator, Ted Cruz. However, Bush, who is currently on a tour of the swing-state of Iowa, has a lot of catching up to do.
Many voters, such as Cameron Hill, a junior political science major from Brandon, Miss., stated that while he is a fans of the other two former Bush Presidents, she does not feel that Jeb Bush can live up to voters’ stringent expectations.
“I didn’t feel he had a strong showing at the debate,” said Hill said. “Right now I’m looking at other candidates.”
Karen Steel, a business administration major from Baton Rouge, La., believes Jindal has all the right tools to lead the nation.
“He’s a two-time governor,” Steel said. “A great president should have leadership skills, he already has that.”
Trump has stumbled among conservative voters in Iowa, as attack advertisements from The Club for Growth, have accused Trump of promoting tax increases, advocating for single-payer healthcare, and pinpointed his support for bailouts of America’s big banks, all of which have edged Carson to the front of the Republican pack in Iowa.
Cruz, who is preparing for a three-day trip throughout 12 cities in Iowa, recently told a crowd of volunteers and supporters that “we’re all in,” at the opening of his Des Moines headquarters, according to NBC News.
While other candidates, such as Trump, have held boisterous rallies for support, Cruz, who is tied at six percent for support among Republican voters in Iowa, along with both Jindal and Rubio, promises that more focus will be given to the “American Heartland”.
Facing a decline in poll numbers and uncertainty if he will drop of out the Republican nomination for President, Senator Rand Paul is also preparing for a tour of Iowa, but has made it his priority to focus on young voters, during an extensive 11-stop, three-day college tour of Iowa, a demographic which could hold key to a successful campaign.
Despite his plan to woo young voters, however, Paul’s campaign is struggling, only raising $6.2 million in fundraising; his campaign only brought in $2.5 million of that in the third quarter. By comparison, Kasich, who only announced his candidacy for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination on July 21, has currently raised $11.5 million for his campaign according to NBC News; Cruz announced his candidacy for President on April 7.
Voting in Iowa will take place Feb. 1, giving Bush, Jindal, Carson, Cruz, and Paul time to perfect their strategies moving forward, but also the rest of the Republican nominee hopefuls, who all look to improve their standings. The United States presidential election of 2016 is scheduled for Nov. 8, 2016.
The following story was completed by students in the Mass Communication Introduction to News Reporting class. Contributors included: Kristen Blanks, Aniecia Brewster, Eldria Coleman, Simon Cotton, Breyionna Flowers, Jarvis Generette, Feunshay Jenkins, Robert Johnson, Jhade’ Norris, Breanna Stewart and Razedrick Winters.
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