Regarding our first series of interviews with the three presidential candidates, it was clear that The Steere Party stood out. The Steere Party’s candidate, Riley Steere, believes in legalizing marijauna and taking steps to reduce racial injustice in the criminal reform system. She also agreed with the decriminalization of opioids, as “any American who is suffering from an addiction to opioids is not a criminal and therefore should not be criminalized”. During the second debate, when asked about how she would combat the opioid crisis, Ms. Steere responded by mentioning the importance of education. Although we strongly agree with the Steere Party’s policies, we feel as if these interview responses did not transfer over into real life. The Steere Party’s social media maintenance has been mediocre at best. We did not see as much Twitter engagement as we would have liked to. As one student puts it, “Riley caters to too small of an audience with her focus on the environment.”

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Candidate Kacala from The Very Good Party similarly supports the legalization of both recreational and medical marijuana. Although he does not endorse the immediate decriminalization of opioids, Mr. Kacala proposes creating a more holistic system that focuses on treatment. In the second debate, Mr. Kacala promoted prison reform in regards to opioid users. However, in response to our interview question on the mistreatment of minorities and racial bias, Mr. Kacala responded with a meager "I believe that the criminalization of drugs does indeed affect minorities more than the rest of the population”. The N2AR wishes to see greater thought and research in Mr.Kacala’s views, as racial equality is an essential value of the N2AR. We are also disappointed in The Very Good Party’s social media activity. Although they now manage an engaging Twitter account, the campaign started off with sarcastic comments and impolite tweets. The Very Good Party even criticized a fellow interest group for their grammar. The N2AR would prefer a candidate who engages peacefully with their people and is respectful from the beginning to the end.

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After witnessing strong campaigns from all three candidates, the N2AR has decided to support Vy Nyugen from The Pitbull Party. 

One journalist told us, “ the candidates were too complacent and too compromising; they didn’t differentiate themselves”. Although this seemed to be the case at first, we found a strong development in The Pitbull Party’s policies as their campaign progressed. Thus, they have earned our vote. Candidate Vy Nyugen of The Pitbull Party believes in the legalization of recreational and medical marijuana, but she will take this a step further by expunging past convictions of marijuana related offenses and removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. As a minority herself, she also understands the harm minorities face from the criminal justice system. Ms.Nyugen will put the revenue earned from marijuana legalization back into the communities that need it the most. 

What stands out, in particular, is The Pitbull Party’s approach to the opioid crisis. Unlike the other two candidates, Ms.Nyugen wants to start with where most addicts are starting: prescription opiates that eventually begin to be abused. In a separate interview she tells us, “We need to regulate the writing of such prescriptions: the dosage, ability to renew these prescriptions, and so on. We will work with healthcare companies, drug companies, hospitals, etc to get this problem in check”. The N2AR holds great importance on these policies. Yes, education and prison reform are effective, but we must start at the root of the problem. With 80% of people suffering from an addiction to heroin starting with a prescription for an opioid pain reliever, we know that hospital and pharmaceutical reform are significant goals. The Pitbull Party best addresses this issue. 

In both debates, Ms.Nyugen was firm in her policies and clear in her messaging. One student said,“Vy put a lot of research into her ideas and stuck to her party’s policies. I particularly find her social policies to be strong”. Furthermore, several classmates all agreed that Ms. Nyugen maintained her twitter account well and responded to people reaching out. In fact, 50% of period 3 believes The Pitbull Party ran the best twitter account. They constantly responded to the N2AR’s tweets and promoted our account. We believe that the willingness to work with interest groups and desire to learn about our mission is what really makes a candidate.

Vy is truly #ACandidateByThePeople #ForThePeople. 

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