As the final debate airs, North Central hosted its own debate night: the Trump Panel. The panel, hosted by Mosaic, BSA, College Democrats and College Republicans, featured six students who varied in political beliefs. The night brought much debate and controversy, which is to be expected whenever the name “Trump” is mentioned.
Of the six panelists, none of them, including the conservative students, are jumping on the Trump train. The three liberal panelists threw their support behind Hillary Clinton, while the three conservative panelists had a different approach.
Two words: Gary Johnson. The Libertarian candidate was a hot topic of debate amongst the conservative panelists, who are voting for him in this election, and the democrats who felt that the votes were being wasted.
“I considered myself to be a Trump settler… because well I’m conservative so it’s what I should do, just anything to not have Hillary,” said Tyler Mamrot, a conservative panelist, “but at this point I just can’t support anything the man has said so I will most likely be casting my vote to Gary Johnson.”
Connor McGury also said that he will be voting for Johnson and thought it was important to voice his opinions on the panel:
“It was an interesting chance to explain how my views are more different than just being a straight male from Naperville who considers himself to be a republican,” said McGury.
Tommy Varela, a panelist who showed his support for Clinton, felt honored to speak on the panel. “It was an honor to voice my opinion, and speak on behalf of a silenced community,” said Varela.
For McGury, and the other panelists, it was important to change stereotypes of members of certain political parties. “It gave me the chance to show that not all republicans are the same and not all democrats are the same,” said McGury.
