Interview Questions:

1.) Do you have any tips for students that are starting to get involved in politics?

2.) What do you think of the state of our country right now?

3.) Why did you join the Young Democrats?

4.) Why do you think it’s important to be politically informed, even when you can’t vote?

5.) What political ideologies of your party do you most support?

6.) What, if any, political ideologies of your party would you tend to disagree with?

 Zoey Schneeberg (Junior):

1.) Go to your city council meetings or your school board meetings. The first meetings I went to I was so confused and knew what nothing meant. I was just sitting there and was like ‘what the heck?’ It just takes persistence to keep going. And you’ll learn, because there’s always more to learn. It’s so complicated, but just start and don’t be afraid to ask people what things mean

3.) I think it’s really important for young people to be educated on politics, because it affects everything that we do and affects everything around us. I think a lot of people are on the right track, but don’t know enough. There’s always more to learn. It’s also nice to be surrounded by a community of like-minded people, and have a community where you can talk about things and discuss things without feeling judged.

4.) I think especially with local politics, like city council and school board, those decisions directly affect you and your parents and your friends. It’s important to know who is running your city or your country. So if you have a problem, you can go talk to them and sort it out.

Kevin Soto (Senior):

2.) It’s very unfortunate that we have Nazis roaming our streets and we have a president who won’t explicitly condemn them. But I don’t think we’re in a total state of despair right now. I think things are still looking up. I remember reading some graph that liberal tendencies are increasing among the populous as Trump’s presidency continues.

5.) I like welfare. I like healthcare. Healthcare, especially now, has shown that it’s not a market that can be sustained by private organizations. At this point it’s time for the government to step in and start regulating because people are suffering from a lack of nationalized healthcare.

6.) I’m not a huge fan of Bernie Sanders. Like not at all. I’m a big fan of free trade and a lot of politicians in the party are not. There’s a weird concept that people like Bernie Sanders have propagated that free trade steals job because there will be outsourcing, and that is not true.

Hali Liu (Junior):

1.)  Just do it.  [The young Democrats club members] at least have some similar opinions so you won’t be completely judged for that. Here it doesn’t matter. You can think whatever you want and won’t get punished for it.

2.) It’s very divided. Honestly, I think we were always this divided; it’s just that this past year has brought it out. We have a lot of problems to solve, and even though there are different opinions, we are one united country.

4.) We always go off of what our parents think, or we follow the older people. But you are your own person, and you have your own opinions. You have to look at the evidence and make a judgment for yourself. You can’t just follow your parents or what someone else says.

Jacob Wilson // Editor in Chief

William DeBolt // Senior Staff Writer