As many people know, this upcoming year has some very significant events going on: it’s an election year. But before a president can be elected, all parties must elect their candidates. Which brings us to today’s current events, the presidential debates. Many Republican figures have agreed not to unseat Trump but the democratic party has a long list of people ready to take Trump’s place as president. 

Three debates have already taken place. One on July 30th, another on July 31st, and thirdly one on September 12th. The debates are where each candidate express their viewpoints and try to gain the support of most voters. The top three candidates for the democratic party are Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders. 

Joe Bidden, former vice president to Barack Obama, believes himself to be best suited for presidency. Now 76 years old, he’s had first-hand experience as to what it takes to keep a country in check and knows more than most about foreign policy. A few aspects of his platform include offering medicare like public option that Americans could buy into opposed to Medicare-for-All, increasing the pay of teachers as well as diversifying schools and expanding pre-K access to three and four-year-olds.

Secondly, Elizabeth Warren, Senator of Massachusetts, is focusing more on education and student debt. She believes that the overwhelming amount of student debt has a negative effect on the desire for many Americans to go to college and vouches to wipe out up to $50,000 in loan debt for 42 million Americans. In addition to this part of her platform, Elizabeth has expressed support for Medicare-for-All and wants to disband major companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook for having “too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy.” 

Bernie Sanders is no stranger to presidential debates having run for president last election. After his campaign announcement in July, he raised $18 million in the second quarter and has been claimed the uncompromising champion of Medicare-for-All by the Rolling Stone. He has one-uped Elizabeth Warren and her claim on student debt by calling for a complete wipe-out of all student loans. In addition to these promises, Bernie sanders wish to reevaluate the electoral college. 

Although very few students at Oakton can input who they want as president through voting, everyone at Oakton can inspire their parents to go out on election days. As students, it is also very important to stay informed on political events because even though many of us can’t at the moment, one day we will all be contributing to the decisions of our country.