Photo by Anibal Ortiz / For the Daily Titan
Mere months away from the next presidential election, citizens of the United States remain unsure of who will be holding the reins for the next four years.
The presidential debates are set to begin in less than two weeks and both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are gearing up for the final stretch. Of all the issues that will be discussed in the debates, the economy is at the forefront.
Economic issues have always been a particularly potent topic during elections, and this year is no exception. Some voters will be deciding their vote based heavily on the economic policies of the candidates.
“Obama seems to have good plans,” said Taran Eckel, a 20, kinesiology major at Cal State Fullerton. “Just going through with those plans seems to be the hard part for him, but I think he’d do a good job.”
Eckel, a diabetic, said he recognizes the difficulty of supporting oneself financially in such a situation. He feels that Obama’s healthcare plan is more catered to meeting the demands of such situations.
Some, however, are not as confident in Obama’s economic strategies. One such person is Joseph Ward, 26, an elementary school teacher and CSUF alumnus.
“I don’t feel that the current plan has worked very well,” said Ward. “We’ve spent kind of a lot of money on things that maybe aren’t where they should be.”
Ward has been teaching for over a year now, but is currently on a half-year contract, which means at the halfway mark of the school year his job status will be uncertain.
Ward said he feels that teachers are on the receiving end of economic distress, and that the administration is not making the proper moves to address it.
According to CNN, current polls show Obama and Romney are extremely close to one another, leaving battleground states such as Florida and Ohio to determine the ultimate outcome.
The debates will be a large part of determining which way those states swing, but other happenings can also have an effect on them. An example is Romney’s candid “47 percent” comment that was released in a video just last week.
In the video, Romney said 47 percent of Americans are dependent on the government and will vote for Obama. He said that they are not worth considering during the election.
Since this video arose, some of Romney’s supporters have distanced themselves from him.
Following the candid statements, Republicans have been circulating audio of Obama from his days as a senator, during which he speaks in support of redistribution.
Some feel that the negativity of these approaches with negative angles of campaign ads, is becoming a bit much and distracting to voters.
“Negatives hide the real issues,” Ward said. “Every time a negative issue comes up, it just kind of devalues what’s trying to be done by both candidates.”
With the debates beginning next week, some voters have yet to definitively settle on a candidate. Lorenzo Lizardi, 18, a finance major at CSUF, currently supports Romney, but may be swayed after he looks into it more.
“My parents are Republicans, so what they talk about at home is usually what I hear,” Lizardi said.
Lizardi mentioned that he plans to do more research in the coming weeks on both Romney and Obama’s policies, before it is time to pull the lever in November.
Many voters like Lizardi will be watching the debates, waiting to see who will take charge of country from the Oval Office.
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