The presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is as big a battle as ever and they have less than three months to gain all the support they can get.
Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president, has received mixed feedback after his speeches, including praise and criticism for some of his claims.
The Ball State Daily asked Ball State conservatives what they thought about the nominee and what direction they think the Republican Party is heading towards.
Anthony Cook, a senior construction management major and member of the Ball State Republicans, said he has supported Trump since he announced his campaign for president and feels like Trump has restored the idea that it’s okay to be proud of your country.
He believes the Republican Party has been at odds with itself for a while, but that it also has a chance to evolve with Trump. He warned that many in the establishment would be ran over if they don’t adapt.
“If you don't change with the times, you'll get run over," Cook said. “Imagine Ford Motor Company still trying to produce new vehicles on Henry Ford's original assembly line. It just wouldn't work.”
Cook is confident that voters will focus on Trump’s abilities to lead, regardless of the candidate’s hiccups in his campaign, and hopes there will be enough support in the general election to make the republican candidate the president.
“For the first time in two Presidential Election cycles I will be supporting the candidate not just because he's the candidate the party chose, but because I believe in him,” Cook said.
Kelsey Jones, a second year public relations graduate student, isn’t thrilled that Trump is the Republican candidate. She voted for John Kasich in the primaries and said, “The island Canada is offering up for Trump refugees is looking better and better.”
The graduate student doesn’t know whom she is going to vote for in the general election but she is considering other parties.
“I'm a huge promoter of exercising your right to vote, but these candidates are making it extremely difficult,” Jones said.
Michael Campton, a junior business major and a member of the Ball State Republicans didn’t think Trump was going to make it this far in the election but he is happy that he did.
“I honestly thought it would never happen, but I am very happy with the results,” Campton said.
Campton believes that Trump has always been the best candidate to beat Clinton in the general election. He says Trump’s emergence in the Republican Party looks bad for the establishment and thinks Trump is shaking up the party for the better.
“I am of course voting for Donald Trump to be the next President because we can not have another Clinton in the White House.” he said. “We can not afford another four to eight years of the same crippling policies."
Monica Allman, a sophomore history education major, said she feels like Trump as the Republican Party’s candidate says something about the country.
“I think this tells a lot about our country as a whole and how so many issues we continue to ignore or even more prevalent issues such as racism,” Allaman said . “Everyone likes to pretend that racism stopped after the 1960s, but there is still a huge population of racists.”
The education major feels like the Republican Party is being destroyed from within and thinks republicans that disagree with Trump will start supporting other candidates.
She has her eye on the libertarian candidate Gary Johnson but she isn’t sure yet if she will support him.
“I can tell you that if I don't vote for Gary, I won't be voting at all,” Allman said.
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