Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
placeholder article
placeholder article

Your Official 2016 Election Cheat Sheet

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Notre Dame chapter.

If elections are circuses, the 2016 presidential race is mainstage at Ringling.

With all the rhetoric, name-calling, and general wildness it’s hard to focus on the real stuff. So here’s a cheat sheet to help you out this election season

1. Who’s Running

Democrats have it pretty easy this cycle, with just two remaining candidates:

Hillary Clinton: Senator, Lawyer, and former first lady. Bernie Sanders: Vermont senator of over twenty years.

The real show has been on the right with a cast of characters basically writing their own SNL material. As the months and primaries pass, the list has been shrinking. Here’s the current list of contenders. 

From Left: Marco Rubio: youngest in the race, senator from Florida. Ted Cruz: Senator from Texas. Ben Carson: Neurosurgeon turned politician. Donald Trump Businessman (schoolyard bully). John Kasich: governor of Ohio. 

2. The Issues

Immigration

Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton are the only candidates left who promote a full path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. 

Carson, Rubio, and Kasich promote a right to stay in the country but not a right to full citizenship.  

Cruz and Trump both oppose any sort of amnesty for undocumented immigrants (Trump and [Cruz to some extent] wants full deportation)

Healthcare

Sanders is the only proponent of universal single-payer healthcare.

Clinton is in favor of keeping most of the Affordable Care Act in place.

All five Republicans are in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Abortion

Clinton and Sanders support abortion rights.

Trump, Kasich, and Bush oppose abortions in most situations. 

Carson, Cruz, and Rubio oppose abortion in all cases.

Syrian Refugees

Sanders and Clinton want to welcome refugees. 

Cruz proposes only want accepting christians. 

Carson, Kasich, Rubio, and Trump are opposed to accepting any Syrian refugees.

Follow HCND on Twitter, like us on Facebook, Pin with us and show our Instagram some love!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Victoria is a Junior Political Science major and Journalism minor hailing from Atlanta, Georgia. As you'd expect, she loves writing about politics in a tireless attempt to help people realize that politics matter. When she's not standing on her soapbox, she enjoys music, food, football, and reminding people to check their privilege. In the winter months, you can find her near the closest heater listening to country songs and counting the days until break.