The 2016 presidential campaign is heating up.  

For an election with the primaries set to begin in February, the race is already on.  Primary coverage is bombarding television with news of each candidate’s mistakes.  

As of Dec. 4, the Republican presidential candidates are still a mess.  Sixteen people are seeking election.  For obvious reasons, let’s skip discussing Walker, Jindal, Pataki and others.  

Let’s do speak about Donald Trump, who is still in the lead by quite a margin.  As of Dec. 4, he has 30.8 points with Carson in second place with 17.5.  Cruz and Rubio are behind with 13.5.  Bush has 4.8.  Fiorina has 3.3, and Christie has 2.8 points.

On the Democratic side is a much smaller mess of candidates, with only three in the polls as of Dec. 4.  Clinton has 58.3 points and a strong lead.  Sanders has 31.5 points, and O’Malley is far behind with 2.5 points.

“I haven’t chosen a candidate yet,” said future voter and current OHS sophomore Sean Brown.  It’s too early to tell.”

So, how should you make your decision?  Personality is a large contributor for many people trying to make up their mind, but you should look into what these candidates have to offer.

Sophomore Sam Morgan said, “I’d vote for Ben Carson since I like him the most.  He’s a good guy.“

“I like Bernie Sanders because of his consistency,” fellow sophomore Grace Smith said.  “He’s had the same policies for 30 years.

Let’s now take a closer look at two of the major players grabbing the majority of the headlines.

For Hillary Clinton, she believes democracy should work for everyone.  She wants to raise American incomes by providing tax relief, unleashing small business growth, creating a New College Compact, and increase participation in the workforce especially for women.  She hopes to spur investment to power the rural economy and expand opportunity in rural communities across America.

For Donald Trump, he hopes to get tax relief for middle class Americans, simplify the tax code, grow the American economy, and not add to our debt and deficit.  He also hopes to build a wall around Mexico and make the Mexican government pay for it.  

He finally wants to bring China to the bargaining table, protect American ingenuity and investment, reclaim millions of American jobs, and strengthen our negotiating policy.

For those OHS students who haven’t already made up their mind, only time will tell.