Presidential candidates break the mold in 2016

Image by Julian Carvajal via Flickr

Jennifer Blanco / Staff Writer

opinion@fiusm.com

The 2016 presidential election is slowly approaching and political parties are getting ready to choose the best of the best to represent them. This election, like any other, decides the course the nation will take for the next four years.

Despite familiar names like Bush and Clinton, it’s exciting to hear new and inspiring stories of our potential candidates. Over a dozen candidates from both parties have shown interest in becoming the 2016 presidential nominee, but only a few have officially announced their participation.

The Democratic Party has one candidate who has officially announced her running: Hillary Clinton.

Although I would love to see a woman as president, I don’t think Clinton is the candidate for that role. To see another Clinton or Bush become president would be more like a monarchy run by a royal family, than a democracy.

Frankly, Clinton’s story doesn’t really inspire or empower women. From taking down Gennifer Flowers to covering up Monica Lewinsky, Clinton is known to be strongly influenced by her husband. She is not exactly the prototype for a strong female leader.

I think Obama’s administration broke the cycle of male WASP domination over the presidency. With two hispanic hopefuls and a woman in the running, chances are we’ll be seeing a change to the status quo.

Marco Rubio’s poignant speech definitely made him a strong contender in the 2016 presidential elections. If he is elected as the Republican nominee, he will be the first hispanic man to run for president.

Thus far, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have officially announced their running for 2016 Republican presidential nominee. Marco Rubio, an inspiring young leader, announced his participation at Miami’s Freedom Towers. Rubio couldn’t have chosen a better location to share the news with his supporters, as this historic site was refuge to thousands of Cubans escaping Castro’s dictatorship. Rubio is from a working-class family of Cuban immigrants who share stories much like those of the Cubans who once walked through the Miami Freedom Towers.

“My candidacy might seem improbable to some watching from abroad,” Rubio said. “In many countries, the highest office in the land is reserved for the rich and powerful. But I live in an exceptional country, where even the son of a bartender and a maid can have the same dreams and the same future as those who come from power and privilege.”

Rubio may not be the obvious choice, but as we have seen in previous elections, it’s sometimes the least obvious choice that comes out of nowhere and wins over the hearts of millions of ordinary Americans.