This is not new for the 2020 Democratic Candidate race, as in November, it was reported that Andrew Yang was given much less time to speak than other candidates during the debates, despite polling higher than many.
The Democratic race has been going on for over half a year now, with 12 candidates remaining and Bernie Sanders on top of the most recent polls, and University of Denver students have been sure to form their own opinions.
“I like Andrew Yang because he’s definitely the most put together candidate, it seems like,” said Charlie Dennis, a sophomore at the University of Denver.
Dennis considers himself to be mostly Democratic and supports both Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang. Healthcare, education, and taxing big corporations are the policies he feels are the most important.
“I honestly don’t think that people over 30 are going to vote for him,” Dennis said, in regard to Yang’s candidacy. “I don’t think he’s going to win, but I would like to see it.”
Zach Norton-Nunez, a geography major at DU, chooses Bernie Sanders as his top pick.
“One thing that I will say that I like in any form of life is consistency,” Norton-Nunez stated, “and Senator Sanders has definitely shown that.”
Similar to Dennis, healthcare, and more specifically the idea of making insulin more affordable, as well as education more affordable are the most significant Sanders’ policies for Norton-Nunez.
“If these policies were to go into effect, yes taxes would rise and living would be more expensive for a time, but that gets evened out through not having to pay for healthcare or not having to pay for college,” remarked Norton-Nunez.
In terms of the media’s treatment of certain candidates, Norton Nunez gathered that speaking times were a large issue, as well as how certain questions were asked.
“Just from casual conversations, I’ve heard that there are these questions that are asked to certain candidates, and then they’ll respond and then it seems as if that answer was just completely thrown away,” Norton-Nunez commented.
Dennis finds himself more concerned with the media’s treatment of Yang, citing the times where Yang was given less speaking time during the debates.
“Joe Biden is not what people want, he’s not progressive. He just wants to keep everything the same, and he’s getting so much press,” Dennis stated. “The media needs to try to make it more fair and give everyone a spotlight to say what they have to say, and at least have the chance to let the public know what they’re about.”
Cooper Standard, a Computer Science and Spanish double major at DU, supports Elizabeth Warren the most, though he does state that he’s not really satisfied with any of the candidates.
“I voted for Bernie Sanders in the last election, and if he did not have recent health scares, I probably would be voting for him again,” Standard mentioned. “I don’t want to be electing a vice president.”
When it comes to the media, Standard disagreed with Norton-Nunez and Dennis, believing that the majority of the problem has gotten better over time.
“As far as I know, Biden gets the most press and he’s polling first, Bernie gets the second most, he’s polling second, Warren gets third, she’s polling third,” Standard commented. “At least with those it seems pretty equal, it seems like what it should be.”
The MFJS Reporter -- Winter 2020 T-R 