Creston High School senior Kadon Hulett has been looking forward for months to voting for the first time in this 2016 election.
His excitement has waned a bit based on how this election is panning out.
But, he’s still planning to exercise his right to vote because he knows he can make a difference.
“I think it’s important we extend our voice and do our civic duty of voting rather than saying, ‘I’m not going to vote because I don’t like this candidate,’” Hulett said. “I think it’s important to make an educated choice. We have the ability to make our world different. We need to get out and give ourselves the ability to make that difference.”
Hulett said it’s important for him and other first-time voters to vote in the election because, ultimately, they’re the ones that will be affected the most by the results of the election.
Both he and fellow CHS senior Leah Schuler remain undecided at this point who they want to vote for in the election.
“I think both have their flaws and they’re not real clear about their plans, so that makes it hard to decide,” Schuler said about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Both Hulett and Schuler have been frustrated so far with the candidates.
Schuler said watching the debates has actually made it less clear for her who the right choice is.
“They’re just trying to make the other person look worse than they do,” she said. “That’s not what it should be about.”
Hulett had considered voting for a third-party candidate like Gary Johnson until Johnson’s blunders of not knowing Aleppo or being able to name any world leaders.
Hulett has always enjoyed watching the State of the Union address and presidential debates. He’s been keeping a close eye on the debates this year.
“The first one, I definitely think Hillary schooled (Trump),” he said. “Of course, he got his chimes in on the second one, but he said some stuff he shouldn’t have, too. It’s been interesting, for sure.”
After watching the debates, Hulett said it will likely come down to voting day before he makes a decision who he wants to vote for.
For him, the biggest issue is bringing the country back together.
“I feel like we’ve gone down a road where we’re all against each other instead of with each other,” Hulett said. “That’s the biggest thing for me is being able to come back together. One of the main platforms would be foreign affairs. The reason I am debating on whether or not to vote for Donald is he does a lot of stupid stuff and people in other countries ... are going to see it as insane.”
For Schuler, the big issues are abortion, global warming and foreign affairs.
“I’m all over the place. I don’t think abortion is right. I think global warming is real. I don’t know why people don’t,” she said. “The wars and how we’re going to deal with other countries – I don’t want to start more wars. Trump is going at it with fists of iron and all that.”
Like Hulett, Schuler is excited for the opportunity to voice her opinion but said she’s unclear who to vote for.
“I think it is exciting we get to vote and have an opinion on all this stuff,” she said. “It’s just hard when both candidates don’t fit the presidential image. You don’t know which one to pick or which one is the best option.”