By Alexa Rocourt
When reflecting on our present-day government, Andy Schwarz sees the midterm election as a great opportunity to refocus, reconstruct and restore a functional team of leaders to improve America.
Apart from pursuing a political science degree, his interests in politics go beyond the classroom walls and into the polls. Schwarz is registered to vote in Maryland and plans to make his voice heard. He’s got lots to say.
“I am a Republican. I would love to have more
Republicans in the House,” he said, “but you can’t always get what you want in politics so it’s essentially a large compromise.”
Schwarz feels one of the biggest issues in our government today is its inability to work well together. “It’s a lot of gridlock in the House and in the Senate on different issues and it makes it hard to pass reform in policies like gun control and immigration,” he said.
Despite his support for the Republican party, Schwarz says his vote will not necessarily be about supporting President Trump. He instead wishes to prioritize his own opinions. While some of them align with the President’s, others don’t.
“For climate change, I fall a little bit differently than most Republicans,” he said. Schwarz grew up as a scout and developed an appreciation for nature and its natural energy, and feels uncomfortable with the government forcing its way into the energy sector.
However, being a scout taught him more than just how to appreciate nature. It also instilled in him an interest in shooting. He said he and his hunting crew were “responsible gun owners” who never killed or shot anyone. “I am not for gun control … I don’t think they [the March for Our Lives group] know as much about the guns they’re trying to control and the guns they are trying to reform the use of,” he said. In Schwarz’s opinion, more deep down logic needs to be applied to issues like gun control.
With those main concerns in mind, Schwarz is ready to play his role in our political system. “I think we are becoming more polarized and the 2016 election definitely played a role in that, and I think it’s time to depolarize and come back in the center,” he said.
Advanced Reporting Times 