Elijah Noriega 
EDINBURG – In theme of the third 2020 Democratic Party Presidential Debate that happened on September 12, we asked students at UTRGV about their political opinions.
“I’m voting for Bernie Sanders because he’s been very anti-establishment for his entire career. I’m hoping that the Green New Deal gets passed, we get Medicare for All, the country becomes more welcoming for everyone,” said UTRGV senior Sheila Patel.
A record number of candidates are challenging our president in 2020. Currently in the Democratic Party, there are ten candidates running. However, for the Republicans there are only four candidates running.
“I do think we need healthcare reform and a better immigration system. When I hear him talk about the immigration platform versus the Democrats platform for immigration, I just feel it’s a much stronger one than let’s say open borders for example. I’m not saying we need to keep everyone out, but we can’t let everyone in,” said UTRGV junior Anthony Sissine.
We sat down with Dr. Velez to discuss the importance of being informative about the candidates and ways he tries to make students more involved.
“And to know where the candidates stand helps them be an informed voter. The founders, when they put this crazy experiment together called the US, said we can rule ourselves instead of the divine right of kings, monarchies and stuff but the people have to be informed. Engage young people where they are. They’re on social media, they’re on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Whatsapp, all these new things. Why not use the platforms for a small d, democracy good? You know so people can get engaged with each other,” said Velez.
It’s important to keep in touch with the debates going on to make sure you have an informed vote. Be sure to watch the debates this upcoming year and don’t forget to vote in 2020.
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