Nicole Pathak ’26
The Republican primaries have been going on for some time, and the Republican Party will soon pick a candidate to represent them in the 2024 presidential race. But is anyone paying attention? Some students, including senior Lia Walton, haven’t kept up with the primaries. She believes there isn’t a significant reason for not keeping up with them, aside from a lack of time due to factors like homework and extracurriculars. While Walton does care about who the presidential nominees are, she also said that she feels her opinion does not matter due to her being unable to vote, and “the more I know or the less I know doesn’t really change anything.”
While some students have not paid any attention to the Republican primaries, others like senior Anwen Kelleher used to tune in, but have since stopped for various reasons. While actively watching the debates, Kelleher found herself getting angry at the “flaws in logic” of the “absolutely wild” candidates. Consequently, she believes the presidential debates are “not worth watching.” She said that there are “a bunch of absolutely insane things said by people who really want power.” Some students were more politically observant during the 2020 election but are no longer as inclined for the 2024 election. Sophomore Peter Cavanaugh is one of these people, and although he does not watch the primaries, he reads news articles about them to get the basics. He said he is busy, he thinks it’s a closed race, and they’re “depressing.” Despite the potential bias of his news sources, he prefers to read the news over watching the primaries because he finds the debates to be “awkward, to say the least,” because candidates avoid questions, and he recognizes that he is “not equipped to fully decipher what everyone is saying.”
While there are many differing perspectives on the Republican primaries and candidate selection, most can agree on the importance of civic participation.
Kelleher believes that “once you get to the general elections, sometimes they’re worth watching,” though she quickly added that politicians “are just playing their tiny violins.”
Cavanaugh advocates for everyone to pay attention to the debates since “it’s important to know where our country and democracy is going.”