On November 8, a new (wo-)man in power will commence their reign in the USA. The portrayal of the candidates in the media is clear. But how do students in America feel about the upcoming announcement? The :bsz has contacted reporter Susanne, who is studying for her Master’s degree in Boston at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and questioned students about Clinton and Trump. She will provide us with her very own impression as well. 

Jules is 28 years old and focusing on Development Economics, Human Security and Global Health. One of the presidential candidates she considers as “incredibly qualified and with years of experience, both in terms of civil service, in terms of government and the needs of our country.” She’s talking about Hillary Clinton. “Not only does she know the inner workings of what it takes to be president from eight years as the first lady but as secretary of state, she also defended the morals of our country worldwide while being critical when it was necessary.” According to Jules, the other candidate (Trump) is “a total mess” and his election would result in a “total disaster for our country”. He’d pride himself on being a successful businessman, when “frankly, he was a rich boy, who took a loan from a wealthy father”. Jules says that “Trump has built himself up on an empire of destroying small people and now it’s them he’s lying to, so that they’ll vote for him”.

The misogynist

Katherine, 24 years old and a Master of Arts student, is so far “not disappointed” with the way the presidential election is going. She supports Hillary and has been doing so since the very beginning, “even when she was running against Bernie”. “I feel that she has the political cloud to actually make change happen.” Katherine has been disappointed by the conversations and the debates that have been going on in this election. “I think, with the presence of Donald Trump, a lot of xenophobia, racism and misogynism has been coming out and I feel like Trump is giving voice to a lot of people that hold these negative perspectives of society.” Furthermore, she is worried that, in the future, other countries might not take the US as seriously in the international sphere.

„Not only the dumb vote for Trump“

Susanne, who was so kind as to ask students overseas about their opinion, has made her own experience while staying in the US. Her environment is characterised by democrats – Clinton-voters, although many only choose the lesser of two evils, Susanne says. Watching the first debate with her fellow students, she feels that “Trump has even more outmaneuvered himself”. She considers his performance a “catastrophe”.

Nevertheless, a lot of qualified business-people will still vote for Trump. Susanne has encountered several academics, on debate-watching parties and so on, who will choose the republican candidate. Most of them agree that the democrats throw money down the rathole and argue that Clinton is old; however, she’s one year younger than Trump. Susanne sees this as an example for sexism where everything negative is projected onto “the woman”. Among the students in general, Clinton is definitely considered number one.

:Tobias Möller