LIMA — From his days in high school, Spencerville grad and OSU-Lima freshman Riley Klaus took an interest in politics. Now 18, Klaus is looking at entering the voting booth this November to have his say for the first time in who will take the reins in the White House.
Going into Sunday’s second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Klaus did not consider himself to be under one party banner or the other, describing himself as an “in-the-middle moderate.”
“When it comes to issues like national security, I tend to lean more conservative,” he said. “But when it comes to social issues, like gay marriage, I find myself leaning more towards the liberal side for those things.”
With Sunday’s debate held in a town hall format with questions from the audience, Klaus hoped that candidates would be able to speak more about their platforms and what they hoped to accomplish, rather than the first debate, which he said was more about insulting the opponent. At the end, however, he was left disappointed.
“I think that the debate was just as geared toward the mudslinging as the last debate was,” he said. “I saw a bit more of the details of their policies, but I’d like to see a lot more time spent on outlining the specifics of their plans.”
When it came to the issues that were discussed, including health care, taxes, foreign policy and representing all Americans as president, Klaus thought both candidates had strong moments, at times.
“I think that Clinton made the best statement on health care,” he said. “I do agree that the cost for prescriptions is too high and that the holes of the system should be fixed rather than throwing the whole system away. I agree with Trump that taxes on the middle class should be lowered, but I also agree with Clinton that taxes on the upper class should be raised, but both should be within reason.”
As the debate concluded, Klaus asserted that Clinton’s performance helped her cause, as far as he was concerned, and that Trump put himself in a worse position.
“However, I think I’ll wait until the last debate in order to make a final decision on who I would like to see as our president,” he said.
