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Donald Trump

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Deomcrats and Republicans are in the midst of a heated election season. File photo

Although America’s two major political party conventions will be wrapped up by the end of this week, for many in this country, it seems as if there are four party conventions coming to a close.

If there is one thing Democrats and Republicans share at the moment, it’s the fact that many people feel like outsiders in their own party.

Since the start of the primaries, many traditional conservatives have had trouble accepting presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) as one of their own. On the first day of the convention, some state delegates staged a walkout to protest against Trump. Not only do voters and delegates feel this way — noticeably missing from the event were former Presidents George Bush senior and junior, as well as former presidential candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney. Romney has even gone so far as to hold press conferences to make clear his disdain for Trump and the direction he is leading the party.

Democrats have their own unity issues. After WikiLeaks exposed thousands of Democratic National Committee emails last week, the party seems more divided than ever. #BernieorBust voters within the party have said they will never vote for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D), staying true to their support for former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (D) — despite his efforts to unite his supporters behind Clinton.

The divides in both parties are clear, but what should be more clear than anything else is that four months from now, this country will have to unite behind a newly elected president.

2016 has already shown us the major obstacles and issues facing America, both at home and abroad.

Our electoral system is not perfect; this election season has shown us that. But it is our system, for better or worse. We’ll need to accept who won, who lost, and most importantly, unify around the winner. The reality is, regardless of who wins, a large contingent of voters will be saddled with a commander in chief they disdain.

It is rare to find a candidate who is everything Americans in one party want, let alone both. Speaking to the #NeverTrump and #BernieorBust voters specifically, there comes a point when you need to decide which candidate represents you the most. Excluding yourself from the process gets you, and the nation, nowhere. Trump or Clinton will move into the White House in January 2017, and it would be best to vote for someone who represents some of your views, as opposed to none of them, or simply not voting at all.

As the election season continues on, it’s important to remember we all need to unite again as one country once the final ballots are cast and the polls are closed.

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File photo

Though political fighting and manipulation of the media to wage a war may seem like a 21st-century concept, Clinton and Trump will not be breaking any ground this summer and fall when the mud inevitably continues to fly.

By Rich Acritelli

With the presidential election of 2016 upon this nation, it has been a hard fight between former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and businessman Donald Trump. Today, Americans are watching these opponents utilize “mudslinging” and “deceitful” techniques to gain votes, but these tactics have been used almost from the start of this republic.

When President George Washington decided to retire after his second term, his vice president, John Adams, and the former secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, ran for presidency in 1796. Both of these men liked each other personally, but detested each other politically. This was during the establishment of political parties between the Federalists (Adams) and Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson).

Alexander Hamilton was a dominant leader within the Federalist Party who believed Adams was not psychologically capable of being president. Hamilton urged Federalist politicians from South Carolina to withhold any votes that would help Adams win the election; Hamilton wanted Thomas Pinckney, a Federalist from that state, to become the next president. If Pinckney won, Hamilton estimated it was possible for Adams to gain enough support to be a runner-up as a vice president. Hamilton was unable to achieve this political scenario, and Adams won the election. Jefferson became his vice president from the rival Democratic-Republican Party.

Hamilton again threw his influence into the presidential election of 1800. Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied, and Congress decided the contest. Hamilton supported his chief opponent in Jefferson, due to his notions that Burr was a political tyrant, and motivated congressional leaders to vote for Jefferson to become the third president of the United States. This was also the last election that sought “a winner take all” process for the presidency and vice presidency. The government established the system of running mates elected together to represent either party in the White House after that.

In 1860, the country watched a junior politician in Abraham Lincoln seek the highest position in the land. He was a self-educated leader, a respected lawyer and a one-term representative in Congress. While he did not have the political clout of the other candidates, he served within the Illinois General Assembly. Although it is believed slavery was the cornerstone of his values, he pushed for revisions within the tariff, free labor, the Transcontinental Railroad and the Homestead Act of 1862. He ran against many strong Republicans, and while he defeated William Seward from New York, he later made his rival into a trusted member of his cabinet as secretary of state.

During his failed attempt to win a seat in the U.S. Senate against Stephen Douglas, Lincoln debated he would never support the expansion of slavery in the new states and territories. It was these property rights concerns that the southerner never forgot when Lincoln decided to run for the presidency. When he proved to be a serious candidate, Democratic newspapers that opposed the end of slavery, wrote that Lincoln was “semiliterate, ignorant, an uncultured buffoon, homely and awkward,” according to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Although Lincoln was perhaps our greatest leader, both Republicans and Democrats were highly unsure about his motives and abilities to lead the nation at the cusp of the Civil War.

Though political fighting and manipulation of the media to wage a war may seem like a 21st-century concept, Clinton and Trump will not be breaking any ground this summer and fall when the mud inevitably continues to fly.

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File photo
Grace Marie Damico, St. JamesGrace-Marie-Damico-Presidential-Primaries_2016_05_barkleyw
Q: Will you vote in the primary?
A: Yes.
Q: Why?
A: Because I think that the country is in dire straits right now, and the more people that get out and vote for who they prefer, the better the country will be. Hopefully we can bring this country back.



John Hayes, CoramJohn-Hayes-Presidential-Primaries_2016_04_barkleyw
Q: Will you vote in the primary?
A: Yes
Q: Why?
A: Because it’s too dangerous not to vote. It’s a very important election. I believe Donald Trump is a very dangerous man. I believe that every vote counts against him. If you don’t vote, it’s a vote for Donald Trump.



Charles Spinnato, Port JeffCharles-Spinnato-Presidential-Primaries_2016_06w
Q: Will you vote in the primary?
A: Yes. I want to choose who I want to vote for [and] who I want to be the nominee for the Republican Party. So I would vote in the primaries to make that choice. [It’s a] very interesting election this year.



James Turrill, MasticJames-Turrill-Presidential-Primaries_2016_01_barkleyw
Q: Will you vote in the primary?
A: I’ve never voted in the primaries before but I want to.
Q: Why?
A: I’m fed up with politicians. Look what [U.S. President Barack] Obama has done to this country. He’s destroyed it. I want somebody not like him.

By Giselle Barkley

The 2016 U.S. presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle made their way to New York to continue rallying support this week.

And by next Tuesday, New Yorkers can make a difference when they vote for their nominee in the closed primary.

Suffolk County Republican Chair John Jay LaValle said this is the first primary in three decades where New York State’s vote is this relevant.

“By the time the vote gets to New York, it’s usually over and it’s a functional exercise when the candidates run,” LaValle said.

When asked how running in New York differed from campaigning in other states, LaValle said, “New Yorkers like to hear it straight.” The Republican chair added that voters in this state are very engaged, intelligent and are more skeptical when it comes to casting a vote.

But Lillian Clayman, chair of Brookhaven’s Democratic Committee said “unless there’s this huge ideological chasm with the candidates,” running in New York isn’t much different than in other states.

The presidential primaries allow voters to help determine the presidential nominees for their respective parties. Of the nominees, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is doing well on Long Island, LaValle said. He added that people are getting tired of hearing the typical political rhetoric they hear from the other 2016 presidential candidates.

Although Clayman said she doesn’t know what’s to come for next week’s primaries, she said Democratic nominees, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) have energized residents, even those who usually don’t vote during the primaries.

Registered voters can choose their nominees on Tuesday, April 19.

Visit elections.ny.gov for more information on deadlines and where residents can vote.

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Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich answers questions from the audience at the Paramount in Huntington. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

The race for commander-in-chief made a pit stop in Huntington on Monday with Republican presidential candidate John Kasich (R-Ohio) stumping at The Paramount.

Kasich, the governor of Ohio, spoke face-to-face with New York voters ahead of the April 19 primary with hopes of gaining momentum against his Republican counterparts in the race. He received some of his loudest cheers from the audience after delivering a line about his approach toward what has been a contentious campaign cycle battling the likes of Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich greets the crowd at the Paramount in Huntington. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich greets the crowd at the Paramount in Huntington. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

“I may have been ignored for six months in my campaign because I spent my time taking the high road to the highest office, not the low road,” Kasich said.

Trump, a businessman, is currently leading in national polls as he has been for several months, but Kasich has been picking up speed as the Republican primaries make their way to the east coast. Real Clear Politics said Kasich has more than doubled his poll numbers from March 1 to April 1 going from 9 percent to almost 21 percent.

Audience members in the Huntington theater asked Kasich questions, many about whether or not he can actually take off the gloves and take on Trump, who has become known for his outlandish rhetoric and heated campaign rallies.

Kasich said while of course he could do it, he doesn’t necessarily want to.

“I don’t want to live in the negative lane,” he said. “I’ve got two 16-year-old twin daughters and a heck of a lot of people… in the state of Ohio who at this point are pretty proud of what I’ve done. I’ll fight, but I’m more interested in giving you the visual. I’d rather do it in a more positive, upbeat way, giving people hope.”

The governor tried to convince voters that he would be able to defeat both his Republican challengers, and eventually the future Democratic nominee by securing votes from both sides of the aisle.

“These things can’t get done with just one party,” he said. “If I’m president, we’ll have a conservative agenda, but we are not going to tell our friends in the other party to go away, to drop dead or demean them. We are going to invite them in. Before we’re Republicans or Democrats, we are Americans.”

In terms of specific policies, Kasich made several promises for his first 100 days in office, if he were to be elected.

“We will have a system that puts a freeze on all federal regulations except for health and safety, so we stop crushing small business,” he said. “I can tell you that we’re going to have lower taxes on businesses so they’ll invest in America and not in Europe, we’re going to have a simplified tax system with lower taxes for individuals and we’re going to have path to a balanced budget.”

He also addressed how he would handle immigration, an important subject to Suffolk County residents.

According to the Long Island Index, the number of white residents has declined in the past 10 years, as Hispanic and Asian populations have continued to grow. According to the United State Census, in 2014, foreign-born persons made up nearly 15 percent of the total population.

Kasich said he would implement a guest worker program that would help the 11.5 million illegal immigrants who have not committed a crime find a path to legalization.

“We’re not going to hunt you down,” he said.

Kasich said that Suffolk County is a diverse area with residents on all ends of the political spectrum, and he acknowledged he could represent more than just one party.

“I happen to be a Republican but the Republican Party is my vehicle, not my master,” Kasich said.

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