In an NBC-Wall Street Journal national poll released last month, 6 in 10 Americans said they could not see themselves voting for any of the most likely presidential candidates, who at the time were Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
A meme that recently went viral read “I don’t think America should elect any president in 2016. We need to be single for a few years and find ourselves.”
It’s not exactly looking good.
We wanted to know how college women feel about the presidential candidates, so we asked 14 of get honest with us.
“I’m not really happy with any of the candidates completely; there is no individual candidate that I am able and willing to support wholeheartedly. Of the Democratic candidates I prefer Bernie over Hillary because he seems more genuine to me. He has stood up for what he thinks is right his entire life and has never changed his stance, which appeals to me since I am quite passionate about social justice. However, I will vote for whomever I need to come November to prevent Trump from becoming president. Whether he is kidding about his racist and sexist rhetoric or not, he is an embarrassment to the United States and would represent us poorly on the world stage.”
-Emma, The University of Alabama Class of 2018
“I’m disappointed that people are so upset with the system that they choose Trump and so blind to corruption that they choose Hillary.”
-Abigail, University of West Florida Class of 2019
“On the Republican side, I feel the quality of the candidate (singular, since Trump is the last man standing) is very poor. Trump does not have the qualifications to be the future POTUS because he has no experience in politics and government. He is poor communicator and lacks professionalism in all aspects of his demeanor. He is fueling his campaign by feeding fear to his voters. His plans and calls to action do not make sense because they are unrealistic, poorly executed, and not well thought out. His words are contradictory to his actions, and his presence is causing the tension in the Republican Party. On the Democrats side, I believe the remaining candidates, Clinton and Sanders, are both qualified for candidacy. They both provide detailed, well thought out stances on health care reform, education, and civil rights. Sanders has a strong millennial following, and I like his ideas of free education and health care. The problem is those two ideologies are very hard to measure and implement. Who is going to take the burden of paying for these free services? Americans have a hard time dealing with paying taxes, and the idea of paying more taxes is going to be hard to persuade. Clinton wants to restructure our health hare system and the Affordable Health Care Act to fix some cracks within the reform. She also is a strong advocate of Equal Pay and Civil Rights which I believe are serious issues in our country that are too easily overlooked. I believe Hillary Clinton is going to be the next Democratic candidate, because she has a stronger following and stronger campaign. She has been our Secretary of State, the First Lady, and the senator of New York. What a resume, am I right?”
-Nicole, San Francisco State University Class of 2016
RELATED: 21 College Women Get Real About Donald Trump
“It’s complete crap. I want a re-do.”
-Macy, FSW Class of 2021
“You have a cool grandpa, an unhip lady, and a bigoted carrot. Please, America, #FeeltheBern”
-Shu, University of Toronto Class of 2017
“The only real candidate running is Bernie, and he himself overall is an outstanding candidate and would make a wonderful president. But the overall quality of the candidates sucks ass.”
-Alyssa, Florida State University Class of 2018
“I hate that this is the first election I get to vote in. A part of me believes that it’s been the biggest prank in human history, and now we’re waiting for them to bring out the real candidates.”
-Kristen, Florida Southern College Class of 2019
RELATED: 12 College Women Get Real About Hillary Clinton
“How am I expected to vote…?
Trump is a narcissist. While he’s never actually been diagnosed, he fits all the mental disease qualifications. On top of that he degrades women every chance he gets, wants Muslims to ID themselves, next thing we know, we could be in Germany during World War II. Also, how are we supposed to trust his foreign policy?! At one of his rallies I went to, he said he won’t negotiate, because he won’t take no for an answer. Can you imagine Trump refusing a dictator and cutting him off? War would literally start up immediately! And don’t get me started on ‘The Wall’. Also, we still have no idea what he’s going to do in the office… all he spews is bullshit.
Clinton is a liar. Benghazi happened, people know about that, we accept it and move on. But what about the several other lies she’s told? Would you trust a boyfriend if they lied to you? The first time it happens, you’re pissed, but you move on and it’ll never happen again. The second time, most would forgive, but what about the third, fourth, and fifth time? She’s also a continuum of Obama, but more old fashioned, has no character, and she represents standing still change. Let’s be real, Obama was fine, but his main platform failed, and he did nothing because he wasn’t able to negotiate and motivate people to change, which is why he got nothing done.
Bernie is a socialist. America was built on capitalist ideals. Obviously, we’ve come a long way since then with healthcare and other social programs. Even so, the American dream is to work hard and to achieve your goals. I shouldn’t be expected to take the majority of my hard earned money to those who are too lazy to work for a good future. Obviously there are people who actually need the support through rough times, however I don’t want to support the people who want to spend their lives living off of others. Bernie’s redeeming quality is that he is the most transparent and likable candidate. His ideas sound great, but the real question is where is he going to get the money for these ideas. I’ll tell you where, tax hikes! Yay, taxes are already super high, but are we seriously going to have to pay a crap ton to fund every single person through college. He also has a super weird past about writing about kids and sex.
I may just have to exercise my right to not vote.”
-Andrea, Tufts University Class of 2018
“I only liked and supported Bernie Sanders. I think everyone else was and is a joke. I think it’s playing out more like a reality show and not a competition that ends in our country having the strongest leader.”
-Morgan, San Francisco State University Class of 2017
“Unfortunately, I feel as though the candidates this year reflect the sort of fear, anger and frustration the citizens of the United States have with themselves and the government. There are too many extremes (on both sides) and not enough bipartisan conversation with the intent of solving the pressing issues facing our society today. There has been an uncovering of deep seeded hatred that was never discussed and is now coming to the surface.”
-Amber, Suffolk University Class of 2020
RELATED: Here’s Why I Won’t Be Voting in the General Election
“I think that the common theme of this election, overall, has been dishonesty. I wish that all the candidates would tell the truth about things that they’ve done, and tell us exactly how they feel about certain issues. (i.e. Trump used to be pro-choice, but claims that he hates abortion to gain the Republican vote; Clinton once said that “marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman,” but suddenly supports marriage equality to please Democrats.)”
-Sophia, Ohio University Class of 2016
“Overall, I feel cheated. This is my first presidential election, something that I’ve been looking forward to for years. I was always happy that I’d be able to vote in the presidential elections as a citizen of the United States. However this election has turned into a train wreck. Donald Trump as the Republican nominee? Are you kidding me? I don’t trust Clinton as she just seems like she only wants power and will change her stances just to get elected. The only candidate I like is Sanders and while I’m trying to hold out hope, he’s probably not going to get elected. For me to see the candidate that seems most qualified and has the nations best interests at heart be largely ignored by mainstream media is very disheartening.”
-Hannah, Framingham State Class of 2017
“I honestly have no idea who I’m voting for. Both Hillary and Trump have a history of lying; I don’t trust either one of them. I’m banking on someone decent running as an independent.”
-Erica, University of Virginia Class of 2018
“Real question: Can Obama be President forever?”
-Nicole, Winona State University Class of 2016