The Battle for Texas

THEHAWKEYE

October 29, 2018 Volume 17, Issue 1

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The battle for Texas:

Students and teachers discuss political activism and awareness

YUSRA WARIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

As Nov. 6 draws near, the topic of the midterm elections, including the race for Senate is gradually dominating social media and yard signs. With polls too close to predict a clear winner, Texas qualifies as a battleground state for Senate.

Early voting began Oct. 22 and will continue to Nov. 2. Additional information regarding the midterm elections can be found on www. votetexas.gov/voting.

With critical roles of the Senate, including the power to veto and impeach, senators that are elected to represent each state can ultimately determine how some critical decisions will be made at the federal level.

Representing the Republican Party is incumbent Ted Cruz, 47, who has been the junior senator from Texas since 2013 and ran as a candidate for the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election. Challenging Cruz for his seat, is Democrat Robert (Beto) O’Rourke, 46, who has been serving as a congressman since 2013.

Recent movements concerning the younger generations of the country, like March For Our Lives, Me Too and Black Lives Matter, have led much of the youth to become politically active; inspired by those events, students have held voter registration drives on campus since then, registering about more than 200 students. Their voter turnout in these upcoming elections can potentially sway the results of the election.

“I’m particularly eager to see young voters get involved because I think a lot of people over the past decades have thought that not voting was remaining neutral or not doing harm,” debate coach Leann Solice said. “The apathy that comes from not voting means people who seek political power are given free reign when you give them permission, because then they don’t have to meet your expectations, they don’t have to address your issues and they kind of get a free pass from you.”

In a random online poll conducted during the advisory period, 627 students out of 1,018 -- 62 percent -- said if they were eligible to vote, they would give their vote to O’Rourke.

“I think [Beto] is a better candidate because [he] is more well-versed and tries to appeal to everyone, whereas Ted Cruz is just trying to appeal to the white Christian older generation who [is] going to vote for a more conservative person,” senior Rachel Gray said.

When compared to the national scale of party affiliation, students at Hebron yielded greater support for the Democratic party, 36 percent, as opposed to the Gallup Poll’s national poll results of 27 percent.

“When you are young, and this is a generalization, I think you are typically more idealistic,” AP Government teacher Travis Fitzgerald said. “Then as you get older, you might start to get more fiscally conservative as you are trying to become self-sufficient [since] there’s a lot more that you look at.”

Despite the left-leaning majority among students, about 40 percent of students would give their vote to Cruz, mainly for his economic policies.

“I’m a big fan of Cruz’s economic policy, which is the main reason I’m supporting him,” junior Chance Kauffman said. “He has very limited government intervention in economics, and also opposes the tariffs Trump placed, which is something I also disagree with. I don’t think that with younger voters Cruz really has anything. Most of them vote on mostly social issues, from what I’ve seen, and I’m the first to say that Cruz’s social policy is lacking. Beto definitely has him beat there.”

Some students, however, are more moderate and have a difficult time deciding between the two candidates.

“I like Cruz’s stance on education: he supports school choice and an end to Common Core,” junior Robert Valecka said. “The ability to choose is very valuable and options between different types of schools and different types of learning are just that. [And] I appreciate O’Rourke’s proposed background checks for all gun sales. I think both sides can agree that background checks can only do good when it comes to such dangerous weapons.”

Though Valecka said he doesn’t clearly support one candidate over the other, he thinks Cruz has a better chance of winning the election.

“Cruz is the name that everyone knows,” Valecka said. “While some voters, especially the ones in the more secluded areas of Texas, know little of O’Rourke. Cruz has the past publicity and the present publicity from his performance in the debates. It’s an uphill battle for O’Rourke on multiple fronts.”

Although about 60 percent of the students said they would vote Democrat, if old enough, when it comes to party affiliation, the majority of students, 39 percent, said they didn’t identify with either the Democrat or Republican party.

"[With] the political parties now… [there’s] this increasing polarization,” Fitzgerald said. “You have to adhere to the party line so it makes sense that people are picking and choosing and I think that’s great, I think that the educated voter should look at things by a case-by-case policy issue and not be sworn to a party.”

Though Fitzgerald said he has not noticed party realignment among students over the years, he has noticed an increase in activism and participation in politics.

“The silver lining to the age of Trump, regardless of where you stand on, is that people are active politically,” Fitzgerald said. “Eight or nine years ago, we would talk about something [in government class] and there weren’t a lot of current examples to pull from. [Now,] there’s more activism, people are interested [and] talk about politics more. I’ve had students recently that are huge political science nerds that follow everything.”

The most common forms of participation AMONG STUDENTS, according to the survey responses, were attending marches and protests and signing petitions.

“I’ve been to the Women’s March, the March For Our Lives rallies and I’ve been to the town hall with the Road to Change,” Gray said. “I’ve [also] signed petitions and helped with the register to vote drive through JSA, and I just try to get the word out there. [Because] social media affects people, I try to retweet points from the debates and I try to spread the word and make sure people are informed about voting.”

About 60 percent of students surveyed said they don’t feel well-informed regarding the midterm elections, and voter turnout of young voters in the 2014 midterm elections, 17 percent, was significantly less than the turnout for the 2012 presidential elections, 41 percent. Solice said these upcoming elections are just as important for students to participate in.

“I know it’s exciting to vote for president because it’s the big top of the ticket thing that everybody talks about,” Solice said. “But what senator you have has more of a role in whether or not there’s funding for your theater program or your soccer cleats or your new camera for the journalism department than anything that happens on the national stage. I would love to see young voters inform themselves and then go vote for the candidate that gives them what they want.”

Fitz said students should learn to participate like older voters who have had turnout rates of about 70 percent in the presidential elections and 50 percent in the midterm elections.

“Younger people need to think like older people,” Fitzgerald said. “If [someone] loses the [election], the thing is not to be discouraged and then go back to ‘Fortnite.’ Older voters don’t think like that; they think long term and that’s why there’s much more attention paid to Social Security than student loan debt. Until that changes, politicians aren’t going to

Preferred Candidate

Party Affiliation

Do you feel informed about the election?

Who influnces your political views?

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OPINION: Disagree with me

MRUNMAYI SATHAYE FEATURE EDITOR

I vividly remember the 2016 election. Donald Trump was going to be the next president of the United States of America and I was going to be dreading the next day of school. I remember my 13-student-very-talkative-World-History- AP class being subdued the next day, all of us upset about how the whole election turned out.

But with the knowledge I gained through taking history and government classes, I realized I didn’t understand politics enough to understand the gravity of this election and the importance of informed voting. When it came to the question of voting, as a sophomore, I was indifferent; I didn’t really care if people were taking the time to vote. All I understood was that someone who I thought represented many of my views, was not elected.

Our government was built on the idea of separation of powers, which is the assigning of authority of governing among three branches (executive, judicial and legislative) so that no part of the government becomes too powerful. Separation of powers works because branches of government have checks on the powers of the others. For example, the president, the head of the executive branch, can nominate judges for the judicial branch and can veto, or overturn, laws made by Congress.

In this presidency, turmoil has become the regular. We saw the rise of the travel ban, families separated from children, various scandals from sexual assault to tax evasion and most recently we saw the controversy and nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.

When the world seems to be going into chaos, it’s natural to feel hope has evaporated. However, our government is built so that we, as citizens, have the power to stifle some of the injustices that may occur within. Congress checks on the presidential power by being able to override vetoes and can check the court’s powers by approving presidential nominations. For the checks and balances system to work, citizens need to vote.

The midterm elections are important. This is an election which allows us to pick congressmen and lawmakers. It allows us to pick people who will represent our beliefs when determining the course of our country. It allows us to pick people who will do their best to counter and check the actions of the other branches.

As young adults, people tend to underestimate or disregard our opinions, but we can make an impact. Being active in the news and following unbiased sources or even having discussions with different minded people can help you formulate your own informed opinion. We all have different views, and that is fine; feel free to disagree with me on issue on policy, but vote. Let our individual unique, informed voices be heard to convey who we are and what we want. VOTE.

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BY THE NUMBERS:

---------- STUDENT POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT ------------------

34.5% of students have signed a petition

22.6% attended a march or protest

16.3% contacted elected representatives

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