By The Promethean Editorial Board
This election season has been one for the record books. The editorial board has declined to endorse a single presidential candidate as we feel that not one candidate best suits the interests of voters. However, when it comes to the Congressional Races we are confident in the candidacies of 7th District Candidate, Mary Hoeft, and U.S. Senate Candidate, Russ Feingold. Both candidates we feel have not only the best interests of public education in mind, but also for the representation of Wisconsin as a whole.
Hoeft is arguably one of the best candidates when it comes to the promotion of higher education. Where incumbent Sean Duffy [R] has advocated to cuts to higher education, Hoeft has made her stance clear that no further cuts should be made to federal funding at the college level. She has also advocated for increased tuition assistance, including free tuition for students seeking a two-year degree.
One can have confidence in Hoeft’s education stances since she has previously worked at UW-Barron County as a Communications professor. Hoeft has also made a point of appearing at UW-Superior, something her opponent has not done. Hoeft is also a proponent of single-payer healthcare, which in theory would be cheaper than the current health care system. Single-payer healthcare is the common standard in many western Democracies, with the United States lagging behind.
As with Hoeft, Russ Feingold is a proponent of making higher education affordable to Wisconsin college students. In addition Feingold is major supporter of women’s rights and the continued funding of programs such as Planned Parenthood and other medical care providers that allow women to have better access to medical care. These services often assist college students, especially ones with low incomes have access to care that they might not otherwise afford.
While many Republicans have accused Democrats of not being fiscally responsible, Feingold has campaigned on the premise of bringing responsibility to federal budgets through the elimination of excess and redundant spending by congress as well as eliminating automatic pay increases for Congress.
As noted above, the Editorial Board has declined to endorse a candidate for President. We believe that no single candidate will represent the interests of voters. Each of the four major candidates (Clinton, Trump, Stein and Johnson) have not demonstrated clearly enough for us to make a choice between them.
The reasons are obvious for Trump, with rampant accusations of fiscal mismanagement and sexual assault/harassment being a key concern. Johnson has demonstrated that he has little knowledge of foreign policy and Stein does not have the support base needed to run a successful campaign for President. While Clinton does have decades worth of experience, there is still a level of mistrust with her as a candidate, holding a double standard on issues such as internet privacy and freedom.
We strongly advocate that all students eligible to vote in the fall election do so. It is clear from our own research that democrats in the congressional races have the interests of Wisconsin students at heart.
