Today is Super Tuesday, a day during which 12 states have their primary elections. A good showing can mean locking down a candidate's nomination. As the country gears up for a big day in politics, we profiled locals who support each of the fronrunners for the presidency.
Ruth and Dave Simcox, voting for Bernie Sanders
After six hours of calling strangers, Ruth Simcox sipped a beer at Nick’s English Hut with her husband. Just a couple of volunteers were left still making calls.
“A lot of hang-ups,” Ruth, 65, said to her husband, Dave Simcox, 66, at the end of a long day.
One of the callers hung up his phone.
“Woo!” he yelled. “Another Bernie voter!”
“Alright!” Ruth said.
On Sunday afternoon, Bloomington residents and IU students filled a small room at Nick’s to use their cellphones and laptops to call voters in Super Tuesday states. They were gauging the potential Bernie Sanders support and entering voters’ Bernie-status in the official Bernie campaign national phone-banking database.
Dave and Ruth said they felt good at the end of the day.
“He’s the first guy that’s ever made sense,” Dave said. “He’s the first candidate that’s not bought and sold.”
The Simcoxes never thought of themselves as a political couple.
They met in their hometown in central Illinois when Ruth was 14. Then they dated for a few years, got married and moved to Los Angeles for Dave’s graduate schooling in biochemistry. Ruth gave birth to two children and began her career as a stay-at-home mom.
The family traveled a bit as Dave researched. When Dave decided to leave academia and take a job in the corporate world, the family settled near Philadelphia.
“We never thought we would be East Coast people,” Dave said.
“But we loved it,” Ruth said.
They moved to Bloomington in 2013 looking for a good Midwestern town for retirement, Dave said. Retirement came at a good time. They gave up their passions for sailing and adopting greyhounds for political campaigning.
But their fruitful careers and retirement would not have been possible in today’s world, they said. Which is why they say they’re spending their retirement campaigning for the only candidate who cares about the middle class and talks about universal health care and reforming campaign finance.
“This is not about us,” Dave said and motioned to an IU student at Nick’s who was making his last phone call. “This is about an America that’s not working for them because the money is going to a corporate executive.”
Ruth and Dave say they don’t understand the stereotype that Bernie supporters are young people.
“I hate to leave this world thinking this is the outfit we left behind,” Dave said.
Ruth nodded, thinking about their grandchildren in Decatur, Illinois.
“Our grandkids,” she said. “It’s sad.”
Bailee Renfro, voting for Marco Rubio
Bailee Renfro said she knew she would vote for Marco Rubio when she saw a video on YouTube.
In it, an atheist holds a camera and asks the Republican presidential nominee about whether or not he would let his Christianity interfere with his policies in the Oval Office.
“Rubio made a really great point that his faith is part of who he is, but he’s not going to establish a nation that makes anyone uncomfortable or makes anyone feel like they don’t belong here,” the freshman broadcast journalism major said. “He’s careful to make sure nobody feels like they aren’t at home.”
However, she’s supported Rubio’s stances on not welcoming Syrian refugees and illegal immigrants, she later clarified.
“Rubio’s family represents the way immigration is supposed to be done,” she said of the Senator from Florida. “He shows that it is possible to do it legally.”
Though Renfro said she has been keeping up with the election for some time, she said no specific policies come to mind when she explains her support for Rubio. She cited Fox News as her favorite network.
“I’m not exactly well-educated in regards to policies, but I’m pretty much right-leaning all the way — lower taxes, defund Planned Parenthood,” she said. “I know as far as military efforts go, Rubio is all about bumping that up and that’s really important to me. We need to get in there and take stronger action against ISIS.”
Renfro said she isn’t sure how Rubio’s plans regarding ISIS differ from the other candidates. She said she does know that she prefers him instead of Trump, but she still appreciates some of Trump’s qualities.
“I like Trump in the fact that he’s saying things that stir the pot, things that other conservatives have been wanting to say for a while,” she said. “Like with taking action against illegal immigrants and the war on political correctness and how ridiculous it is.”
However, Rubio is still the better choice, she argued, because she wants someone with a political background and Trump can “tend to be a little inconsiderate with his word choice.”
As the election continues, Renfro said she will continue to be an active supporter of Rubio. For her, credibility and compassion are the most important traits in a candidate.
Mary Ann Hope, voting for Hillary Clinton
Mary Ann Hope was born in 1947, before the passage of the Civil Rights Act, before Roe v. Wade, before the election of the first black president.
Hope actively campaigned for Barack Obama in 2008 but now supports his former opponent Hillary Clinton, whom Hope said she sees as the heir to his progressive legacy. She said Clinton’s experience as secretary of state prepared her to step right into the presidency.
“I support Hillary because I believe she is by far the most qualified to be president,” Hope said. “And despite what some say, she is not at all an extremist.”
Hope is an independent, but she says she couldn’t vote for any of the Republican candidates running this election cycle. Social issues are important to Hope and she thinks current Republican social policy is scary, she said.
“We shouldn’t punish people for being poor,” Hope said.
In her travels to Europe, Hope has met people who can’t believe how expensive education and health care are in the United States.
“It’s so embarrassing,” Hope said. “These are basic human rights.”
Clinton’s history of fighting for health care, reproductive rights and equal pay appeals to Hope, who used to work in the trucking industry.
“I worked in a field that was extremely male-dominated,” Hope said. “There were years when my male colleagues were paid thousands more dollars than me.”
Although Hope said women’s working conditions have vastly improved since she entered the workforce, she still wants a president who fights for women’s rights.
Hope said she wants progress.
“It’s just time to have a woman president,” Hope said.
Mike Potter, voting for Donald Trump
Mike Potter said he feels like he can trust Donald Trump.
That’s why the 34-year-old Bedford, Indiana, resident said he supports the presidential candidate in the upcoming election. Trump can be vulgar, yes, and even Potter said he agrees the candidate should tone it down at times. But he speaks his mind, Potter said.
“He’s a little bit outlandish at times, but he doesn’t seem like he’s got all those skeletons in the closet like all those other politicians out there,” Potter said.
Potter said he started supporting Trump about six months ago when he began to follow the political race. He said he watched some of the debates and Trump’s honesty struck him.
“He isn’t afraid to call it like it is,” Potter said.
Potter’s political views were strongly influenced by those of his grandparents, Bill and Judy, he said. The family grew up in South Dakota, and his grandparents still live in the Black Hills. They’re about as conservative as anyone gets, Potter said.
His grandparents were more influential in shaping him than his mom was, he said. He’s never met his dad; his parents were divorced before he was even born, and his mom worked and went to school full-time, so he was around his grandparents a lot.
They were supportive of Ronald Regan and George H. W. Bush, Potter said. They talked about politics at church and at family get-togethers and wore the candidates’ buttons.
At least one of the first couple of times he voted, Potter said he pulled a straight ticket. But he’s since adjusted his views, and pulled from other influences. He doesn’t feel constrained to always vote within the Republican party, which he says his grandparents do. He votes on issues.
Potter is college educated: he attended Oakland City University and also IU for a few semesters. He has a master’s degree and spent some time student teaching government, during which time he molded his political views further. Currently, he works as a salesman, selling office supplies. He’s married and has three young kids — two in grade school and one 4-month-old.
Potter said he hasn’t discussed the current election much with his grandparents because if you disagree with them, they don’t like it. As far as the other Republican candidates go, he said he doesn’t necessarily dislike them but he’s not sure he can’t trust them.
He agrees with several of Trump’s policies, especially his policy on immigration, he said. But Trump’s honesty is the biggest selling point to Potter.
“He’s genuinely trying to make America great again instead of getting the power of being the president,” Potter said. “It seems like he cares.”
William Ellis, voting for Ted Cruz
After learning to respect both sides and engage in critical thinking from his time in Catholic school, the chairman of the Monroe County Republican Party, William Ellis, said he has decided that, for him, the best candidate for presidency is Ted Cruz.
“I love the way he strategizes,” Ellis said. “That’s one thing I love about candidates, even if I don’t agree with all of their positions.
Ellis grew up in Indianapolis and attended a Catholic school. One of his favorite professors, whom Ellis describes as a far-left liberal, taught him it’s possible to have different ideas, but critical thinking is necessary to support them.
“Government is not the answer,” Ellis said. “I believe that, individually, we are all phenomenal people, and we can find our own answers. Sometimes we need help, but I’ve found that in my personal life and in my business life that if you get a group of friends or a community together, you can strategize and get the help you need.”
Ellis agrees strongly with Cruz on illegal immigration, he said. Ellis said he believes both the influx of immigrants and the companies that take advantage of them can be controlled. The fact that immigrants are being exploited makes Ellis more upset than their actually being here, he said. Cruz is one of the few candidates speaking about accountability when it comes to this issue, Ellis said.
“It’s not compassion when you don’t pay people minimum wage,” Ellis said. “It’s not compassion when you can fire them at will or abuse them, and there’s nothing they can do because they don’t have legal status.”
