Presently, younger generations seem to be more liberal and older generations tend to be more conservative. Although that is not always the case. they could be influenced by many things that make them come up with their political ideologies. For example, family, media, debates, etc. can influence a person’s opinion. Their experience could also influence opinions as they have seen this country evolve.

Wondering about the political opinions of teachers I interviewed Whitney Miller, a history teacher, and Robert Friedrich, an art teacher, and military man. They are both very politically engaged and they both have strong opinions.

When asked who they would vote for and why I got two very different answers. Miller chose not to say who she would vote for because she did not want to expose her political opinion or persuade anyone else’s opinion. Friedrich thought otherwise. He stated, “Between the two I will probably vote for Trump who I voted for the first time because I feel like he’s done a decent job his first four years. I feel like the economy was very strong. He built up the military which I strongly believe in. Some of his foreign policy with China and NATO made the other countries pay more of the bill.”

When surveyed in October of 2020, 36.9% of CHS students voted that they wanted Joe Biden to win the presidency. While 30.8% voted for Trump, 3% voted for Jo Jorgenson and 30% voted for none of the above. Many students stated that their family used to be a big influence on their political leanings until they grew old enough to form their own opinions.

Miller gave to what influenced her opinion was similar to those of most students. She said, “I would say when I was younger I was really influenced by my family and what they thought but I think now you can say the media cause I read the news a lot and I think I formed my own opinions when I got older.”

When asked what influences Friedrich he says, “Normally I don’t really listen to anybody I form my own opinion. . . .. I think all media is skewed towards one party or another and you just have to sit through it and make your own opinion. I like to see what they’ve done so far.”A majority of students also do their own research when deciding on the best candidate.

Keeping things neutral, the adults were asked the pros and cons of each candidate. Miller said that the pros were, “I would say the good I see in Biden is that I think he really embraces the diversity that we have in the United States and really wants to represent people of all backgrounds and races. For President Trump, he appeals to a group of people that have felt forgotten, and I think that’s valuable, and I think it showed even Democrats that that was a group that needed to be reached out to. More like the working class that felt like policies weren’t geared more toward them.”

Friedrich stated that his pros for both candidates were, “The thing I like about Trump is that he’s not a normal politician. We feel like we have to breed certain kinds of politicians but it’s kind of nice to get away from that because they don’t really do anything for the middle class or poverty. I think Trump has tried to do some of the things he said he would do. For Biden, he kept his cool during the debate and he’s a smooth talker. He knows how to politely answer the questions.”

The adults based a lot of their opinions on the first debate. A lot of students also watched the debate; 61.5% of students watched the first presidential debate and 34% thought that Biden made the best points during the debate. While 30% agreed with Trump and the others stated that they did not watch the debate.

Miller said the cons are, “I’ll start with Biden. I think he focuses way too much on hating on Trump. I wish he would focus more on his policies and what he wants to do to make his country better. I don’t like what President Trump has done for the environment. I think he’s rolled back a lot of stuff that Obama started and I also don’t agree on his comments and attitudes towards the pandemic or racial issues.” Friedrich’s response was, “Trump is flawed. He won’t shut up, he’s not a strong speaker for an educated man. I can’t stand listening to him but I think he’s a smart man. I wish he’d get off of Twitter. For Biden, I see a flaw in the Democratic party period and all they did was chase Trump for four years. What has Biden done? He hasn’t done anything.”