By J.P. McClatchy

Despite these controversial claims made by Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, I’m going to vote for him.

I recognize I’m in the minority among other college students. According to a July 2016 Bloomberg poll, 54 percent of college educated voters said they would vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump if the election were held today.

But I have several reasons for my decision.

First, he wants to fix Obamacare, which costs my family much more a month than our previous plan did, and since Hillary Clinton is buddies with Obama, I don’t see her changing that.

Second, Trump wants to fight for the middle class and actually give them a chance to succeed, without pouring almost everything they make into the government. Another thing I like about Trump is he’s rarely ever scripted, which means his words are his own and he is not afraid to speak his mind, which isn’t a bad thing.

There are understandable reasons why people don’t like Trump. Not having a political background or foreign policy experience is one of the main ones. Trump might not have a political background, but he knows how to be successful through his experiences as a businessman and has been able to overcome setbacks like bankruptcies, showing his resiliency.

People also don’t like the fact he has no filter and they worry he might offend a leader of another country, causing a war or conflict.

Of course, Trump, by American standards, can be classified as a radical with some of the irrational views he has and how he expresses them, yet he has found a way to draw a decent amount of support. In the CBS News/ New York Times latest poll, Trump is tied with Hillary Clinton for the lead, demonstrating he is still very much alive in the race for president.

His stance on immigration can seem a bit scary because he sounds borderline racist in some of his claims, but he has the best intentions, which is keeping the American people safe.

In the past, Americans usually stay away from the radical types, preferring the status quo more often than not because the political agenda in this country has been moderate for the most part. For example, fascist parties and neo-nazis parties do exist in the United States, but they have never been at the forefront of any game-changing events in politics…until now.

I admit Trump has his problems, but so does every other candidate, and his problems will not stop me from voting for him.

The Bernie Sanders movement helped open the door for Americans being more open to radical views, gaining quite a following and clearing the way for Donald Trump to become as popular as he is.

Jeffrey LaMonica, DCCC associate professor of history, thinks he knows why.

“I think the economic crisis of 2008 is one of the reasons why people have been more willing to listen to the political extremes of Sanders and Trump because there is a certain feeling, economically, we need something new, we need something different,” LaMonica said.

Nevertheless, the thought of Clinton being anything like Obama is a big turnoff for people and it’s one of the reasons for supporting Trump.

“I think it’s the mood right now that people are ready to try something different, “ LaMonica said. “I think it’s economic, also cultural and it will be very interesting to see what happens.”

Trump is not the first person without a political background to run for president, but he will certainly be one of the most memorable, whether he wins or not. This begs the question, if he has started a trend will we see more people without political backgrounds deciding to run for president?

“That door has already been opened,” LaMonica said. “We’ve had people run for president in the past that didn’t necessarily come from a political background. Some had more success than others, but nothing like this and I think there is a possibility in the future now we are going to see more non-politician type candidates in presidential races.”

If you really want to see change in this country, then your vote should go to Donald Trump.

Contact J.P. McClatchy at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu