The 2016 election cycle has presented a challenge to those who were otherwise certain of their political identities and stances.

Junior political science major Dalton Smith has always identified as a Republican, but for the first time, he finds himself in complete disagreement with the party’s nominee — Donald Trump.

“A Republican should be for people making choices in their own lives,” Smith said. “The things that he says and advocates, he’s just not what a Republican should be.”

After discovering third-party candidate and Libertarian Gary Johnson this summer, Smith learned more about his policies and became a registered Libertarian. With a fiscally conservative and socially tolerant agenda, Smith felt Gary Johnson embodied what he hadn’t found in Trump.

“When people think about libertarians they think of radical dudes on the Internet who want to secede again,” Smith said. “The basic principle is letting individuals make choices for themselves and their own life, like how they want to spend their money, or if they want to marry somebody. As long as what they’re doing doesn’t affect anybody else in an adverse way then it’s totally acceptable.”

After donating to Johnson’s campaign, Smith soon received an email searching for high school, college and any other individuals interested in erecting a local chapter for an organization in support of the Libertarian candidate. Smith emailed back right away.

A day later, he received a phone call and underwent background checking before being permitted to charter a group. After signing a form, gathering a group of supporters, writing a constitution and finding a faculty advisor, the rest was history.

And as president of Ole Miss’ chapter of Students for Gary Johnson, Smith plans to remain a Libertarian until anything changes within the Republican Party and motivates him to switch again.

However, Smith said he does doubt Johnson can win the election.

“A lot of people tell me that I’m wasting my vote by voting for Gary Johnson,” he said. “I think that people that say that don’t really care what you have to say. The more people that vote for him in this election, the more traction the Libertarian party will have going forward. Like Ted Cruz says, ‘Vote your conscience’.”

Smith said simply voting for Trump because you identify Republican or voting for Hillary instead despite disagreeing with her policies is the wrong way to look at things.

“I think you have to just vote for who you think is the best person,” Smith said. “But voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil.”

Senior marketing major and treasurer of Ole Miss College Republicans Sam Rhodes said the rise of libertarian ideals is a good thing on the whole, but that their organization is in full support of Trump.

“I believe Libertarians fall closer in line with Republican values than those of our Liberal counterparts,” Rhodes said. “We welcome people all over the political spectrum, but as a member of the Republican Party, I doubt I would vote outside of the party. But this is an interesting political cycle and you never know what could happen!”

Vice Chairman of the Lafayette County Libertarian Party Matt Johnson said people find both Hillary and Donald Trump unlikable and are looking for alternatives.

Johnson, who became vice chairman of the organization years ago when members of the campus organization Young Americans for Liberty decided to form their own group in the Oxford community, said Libertarians believe the government that governs least governs best.

This idea is apparent in many libertarian positions on issues such as eradicating military presence in foreign countries, as well as the legalization of gay marriage and marijuana usage.

However, Libertarians are in support of a free market economy and lower taxes, ideas that align the party with Republican policies.

“Some claim Libertarians take the best of Republicans and the best of Democrats,” Johnson said.”That’s an oversimplification but there’s something to it. We simply oppose government making decisions for people. We’re not socially liberal, just socially ‘mind our own business’.”

Johnson said the traction the Libertarian party is receiving has been increasing since 2008 with the campaign of presidential candidate Ron Paul, which “jump started interest.”

“There’s a growing sentiment in favor of libertarians with millennials — a generation not interested in the concerns of older generations,” Johnson said. “They’re not as concerned about hot button social and moral issues.”

Like Smith, Johnson dismisses the idea of voting for a candidate just because they are the nominee of the party you identify with, as well as the idea that a third-party vote is a wasted vote.

“If everyone who said that would vote third party, third parties would start to win,” Johnson said. “If I don’t agree with someone and I vote for them anyway, that’s a wasted vote.”

Alexis Neely

When asked about the current United States presidential election, international faculty and students at the University of Mississippi expressed primarily negative views of the two candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

While they said that the process of the election is similar to their own countries, the direction that it is going is very different. Subjects that were most often brought up are how the candidates present themselves, how they interact with each other and how the media has handled the election.

“You cannot really compare it. I think you have more media coverage throughout the world. More people are talking about it. In Germany, you do not have the fighting, making fun of each other and presenting each other in the worst possible light,” said business major Marina Vorwerk from Germany.

The election has been very prominent in international media and has attracted worldwide attention due to its controversy. Foreign students and faculty are surprised by the hostile way in which the candidates have interacted with each other.

“In Germany we would talk a lot about the election, especially because of Trump, because he’s such a huge figure. Everything he does and says is not understandable for everyone who’s not in America,” said Catherine Halbach, a teaching assistant from Germany.

A German news site, Spiegel Online, labeled Donald Trump as the “World’s Most Dangerous Man.”

Many people expressed their feelings about the controversial public comments that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have made.

“I see all these commercials and all the campaigns compared to what I know from what happens in Europe; it’s just so different. It’s way more outspoken and the campaigns are more aggressive,” said psychology major, Ariana Hortana, an international student from the Netherlands.

Throughout her campaign, Clinton has discussed Trump’s remarks about women and minorities as well as failure to release his tax forms. Trump on the other hand has brought up Clinton’s “deleted emails,” her husband’s past affair and her more liberal policies.

“In the Netherlands, it’s definitely not as aggressive. When I look at the commercials, what I see on TV is so much trash talk. It’s not even classy. They use very dirty words. It’s not how politicians should talk about each other,” said Hortana.

Donald Trump’s comments about Latinos during his campaign have concerned Liz Lopez, a Spanish instructor from Venezuela. She has fears about what the outcome of the election will be and how it will affect her personally, as a foreigner living in America.

“I would add from a foreigner’s point of view that I am sad and concerned of the way that Trump has addressed the presence of immigrants in the country. It has kind of awakened this racism in people. Now that an important figure in the country uses this vocabulary, it gives them a green light to be more open about it,” said Lopez.

Remarks from both Clinton and Trump have stuck in her mind, primarily the comments from Trump about women.

“People see Hillary Clinton as corrupt non-trustworthy lady and then Trump on the other side is very radical. His xenophobic comments about women and stuff like that also set him apart,” said Lopez.

The main problem that Lopez sees is the candidate’s lack of popularity amongst American voters. In a poll conducted by CNN immediately after the first debate, 11 percent of the 521 total people surveyed were still undecided about the two candidates.

“None of them are really trustworthy, but I would also say that people put a lot more pressure on Hillary because she is a woman. We know that Trump hasn’t showed his tax returns, but people do not really pay attention to that. People want to talk about Hillary emails,” said Lopez. “I think it would be a big deal if she won, because she would be the first woman that won the presidency.”

Mrudvi Bakshi, a foreign exchange journalism student from India, said that the democratic process in how the United States elects its president is similar to that in India. She said that the tactics, however, are different.

According to Bakshi, in India the candidates will go to rural areas and speak to small groups of people as opposed to in the U.S. where candidates tend to address larger groups of people in rallies and debates.

“I feel like India is one of the largest democracies. They go out in the public and try to interact with them even if it is small rural areas. It depends on who you want to be to your public. They don’t have the feeling that they cannot go out and talk to them,” said Bakshi.

Lopez also believes that the American election process is not unalike from her native county, Venezuela. However, she says that in the United States it is more transparent and less corrupt.

According to Lopez, its publicly felt in Venezuela that the way the current president, Hugo Chavez, was elected was neither fair nor true.

“I would say that the bipartisanship here (in the US) is way more important and historically implemented. Venezuela is a country that has been going through political problems for 17 years. The new president that we have now was basically imposed or named by the former president. In America, it’s more like a contest between two people,” said Lopez.

In an international poll conducted by Pew Research Center amongst 10 nations from the European Union, 85 percent of Europeans doubted, “Trump’s ability to do the right thing regarding world affairs.” Among them, 92 percent of Swedes and 89 percent of Germans said they had, “no confidence in Trump’s ability to handle the international aspect of the presidency.”

The survey’s results showed that the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, had more popularity and was viewed in a more positive light. 59 percent of those surveyed said that they, “have faith that she will do the right thing in world affairs.”

“I’ve never met anybody who supported Trump; I guess we can’t understand why he’s that successful,” said Halbach from Germany.

Libby Keatin, a British international student, also had negative words to say about Trump. She disagrees with his policies and campaign slogan.

“I don’t agree with a lot that Trump says. I do think that some people want to ‘Make America Great Again’ but I don’t think that his opinions are very modern at all. I think they’re very outdated and that he has a bad opinion on the world,” said Keatin.

Keatin said the presidential election is more of a worldwide debate in the U.S. than it is in England and that less people in the world know about British politics than American.

“I feel like the things Americans do are mimicked. In England, we do have an election and different sides. It is a small country and less influential,” said Keatin.

Among these Ole Miss foreign exchange students and faculty, they all said one thing in common; this current presidential election is unlike any of the past.

“It’s kind of the same in the process, but the feel is so much different,” said Bakshi.

Ashley Thusius

Kiara Manning

Students Prepare for Election

For many students at Ole Miss, the 2016 presidential election will be the first time they are eligible to vote, but the window for registration is closing soon.

Most students turn 18 their freshman year, but four years ago, those with November or December birthdays were left out of the 2012 election by days, if not weeks. Voters must be citizens and have registered at the County Clerk’s Office by the state’s deadline. The deadline is Oct. 8 in Mississippi for in-person and mail registration.

“In the last presidential election, I turned 18 the day after the election, so I did not actually get to vote, but I made sure that as soon as the courthouse opened the next day, I went and registered,” Andy Shine, senior biology major, said.

For Shine, growing up in a military household, he views voting as a privilege.

“It is the duty of every American to participate in the democratic process,”  Shine said.

Shine is from Meridian and has been following the 2016 presidential election since the start of the primaries. He was able to watch the debate and listen to both candidates’ views on many issues. He is also supporting GOP candidate Donald Trump.

“I just think that somebody needs to come make a change from the outside,” Shine said. “The political system, as well as Washington, has become ‘who can buy the most senators to make an effective policy.’ I feel Trump is an American and a self-made man who made his own way… Hillary has been in the system too long to be given that much power.”

For recently naturalized American citizen Viridiana Acosta, this upcoming election is very important to her as well as her faith.

“Some of the things in this election have been influenced by my faith,” Acosta said. “The Catholic church has a lot of teachings and believes that you should vote for a candidate that follows the teaching of the church in such a way, especially the social issues … For me, social issues are a big deal because the Catholic church has a stance on them, so voting for a candidate that is in line with these issues is very important to me.”

Acosta was born in a tiny village in Mexico but came to the states at a young age with her family because of her father’s construction job. She graduated from Tupelo High School and from Ole Miss, becoming the first person in her family to do so.

Two years ago, Acosta became a citizen of the United States. She works in Oxford at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.

“I lived a big chunk of my life just hearing about the election but just thinking it was completely not in my control,” Acosta said. “Now that I can vote, it is kind of weird because I catch myself still in that mentality, but then I remember I can vote this time and I have a say in this.”

In the year 2014, according to the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services, 654,949 people were naturalized in the United States.

“It is important to me because both candidates have such strong stances on certain issues, because for me my faith is what guides me, so hopefully there will be a candidate that I will lean towards that will meet those demands,” Acosta said.

Acosta is torn between some of the views of each candidate but is very strong in her faith to the Catholic Church.

“Being Hispanic is also very important to me and is something that is hard just because there are certain things about one candidate and the way they feel toward Hispanics but the other candidate doesn’t. Then there are some views I lean more toward with the other so it is kind of torn,” Acosta said.

Although the only thing she can not do is be president of the United States, she is very excited to finally be an American citizen and to get out to the polls to cast her vote on Nov. 8.

Lynecia Christion, an African-American student from Memphis, Tennessee, will also vote in this upcoming election for the first time.

“The social problems and the racial profiling done by police officers and what the future president is going to do to try and change this issue is what is important to me because enough is enough,”  Christion said. “All lives matter– don’t get me wrong, but it seems as if it is just directed toward the African-American community.”

Christion is still having a tough time deciding whom to vote for this election, even after the primaries and the first debate.

“I really don’t know who to vote for. I would like to vote for Hillary, but I am not so much on the woman thing. Yes, a female could do it, but I wonder if a female could really handle it and could she deal with problems without getting her feelings involved,” Christion said. “I am a woman and am very emotional at times. Women tend to be more emotionally attached to situations. But I am definitely not voting for Trump.”

Christion said many of her friends and family are still unsure, even after the debate, of whom they would like to see in the White House for the next four to eight years.

“No one really knows who to vote for because we want someone who can lead us and so far we have two children up on stage arguing,” Christion said. “During the debate they were just arguing why you should not vote for each other instead of giving reasons why you should vote for them.”

Haley Minatel is also a first-time voter who missed the age cutoff in the 2012 election by two weeks. She is student at Ole Miss from South Bend, Indiana, and is an avid Trump supporter.

“I am very worried about Hillary’s tax plans because that is going to take a lot of money out of our pay checks for the middle class and that’s not good. I think Trump knows how to create jobs and maintain the economy because he has done so with his own businesses,” Minatel said.

Minatel firmly believes Trump is a better candidate than Hillary and would like to see him in the White House for the next four years.

“I am voting for Trump because I feel like he is just the better candidate. Hillary just has so much wrong with her, starting with Benghazi, her husband’s scandal, the emails, her lies, just all of that,” Minatel said. “If Trump wins, I believe the economy will get back on track.”

“(Lester) Holt failed to ask Hillary about any of her major scandals and asked Trump a bunch of really tough questions about some of his controversies he has caused,” Minatel said.

Minatel said she wants to make sure female voters are aware of who they are voting for and not just voting for a candidate based on his or her sex but encouraged them to go with the better candidate.

“There are a lot of democratic females out there who don’t know about Clinton and choose to ignore the facts because they just want to have a woman in power in the White House,” Minatel said. “That seems to be the only factor females are focusing on and not who is an overall better candidate.”