The end of April is near, and speculations about who will announce their candidacy for the presidency have been confirmed and negated in the past weeks. The first one to announce a candidacy for president was Ted Cruz, who was unsurprisingly followed by Rand Paul, then Hilary Clinton, and now, most recently, Marco Rubio.
These candidates have made their announcements, proposed their ideas to their constituents and begun their campaigns. There is still more than a year left until elections, however, and potential candidates like Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and others still have the opportunity to shatter further speculation by officially announcing their bid for the White House.
The first announcement came from the Canadian-born Texas Senator Ted Cruz at Liberty University in Lynchburg, V.A.—“a socially conservative campus”— according to CNN. Here, Senator Cruz addressed young audiences who CNN said are “required to attend a tri-weekly convocation address.”
In his speech, Cruz talked about his family, his own path into Washington and about how family and hard work are “who we are as Americans.” His main goal at the moment is to recruit evangelical voters to join in his cause, and his choice of where to make his announcement reflects that.
Rand Paul, who was second in making his announcement, was elected to the U.S. Senate on the “Tea Party wave,” according to NPR News, but recently his positions have made people unsure of what kind of Republican he is going to be at election time.
“Rand Paul is known to be a libertarian, but he is trying to steer away from that now. It also looks like he is trying to target the young vote, like some of his other colleagues,” political science professor Frank Niles said.
In his announcement, Paul spoke about being a “different kind of Republican” in the sense that Paul is a Libertarian.
“If Paul does succeed [in winning the primary], he could transform the GOP into something far more libertarian than it’s ever been before,” Timeline reports, which serves as both a history and news app.
Paul also said that he wants to limit government’s outreach, add a constitutional amendment to balance the budget and limit congressional terms.
Another presidential hopeful is Hilary Clinton, who ran against Senator Obama in 2008. Clinton announced her candidacy, unlike her opponents, via video. Clinton is the first, and so far the only “major Democrat to formally declare her candidacy,” according to the Wall Street Journal, and enter the campaign race; no other candidates, for the Democrats, have expressed interest in running.
Clinton “faces a lot of difficulties,” said John Brown III, a retired JBU president and Arkansas state senator. “She must prove that she is not her husband. She will have to distinguish herself from her husband and let the people know that she is a different and independent person from Bill.”
Many of her opponents have accused Clinton of being someone who will bring back old habits rather than trying to bring in new ways like them. However, she has “nearly a quarter-century of experience,” according to CNN, under her belt. She has been a Senator and a Secretary of State.
Marco Rubio is the most recent to announce his candidacy for the president. He is also the youngest, which is something that is evidenced by the fact that “he has not even finished his first term as senator,” according to The Washington Post.
Rubio’s “youth and relative inexperience,” said CNN, could help distinguish him from the rest of the candidates like Clinton or the likely contender, Jeb Bush. Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants and has used this history to his advantage by telling of his parents’ struggles. However, some media analysts have pointed out his recent opposition to some of President Obama’s moves to strengthen ties with the nation of Cuba. Senator Rubio polls behind several of his opponents. Although he has the youth, charisma and a compelling background, he still will struggle without definite support.
Students, like Jeremiah Moore and Joe Price, are impressed by one of Rubio’s speeches.
Price said, “When he spoke, he approached issues from a very logical standpoint, rather than using subjective opinions to support his stance [referring to issues like gay marriage].”
On the other hand, Moore said, “I like the youthful energy that he presents himself with. He seems confident in what he is doing, which is undoubtedly key.”