As the 2016 Presidential Election continues to move forward, several candidates are beginning to make their mark in the race and prove why they deserve to be the commander-in-chief of our nation. The front-runner of the Democratic Party continues to be Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, but she’s only holding a slight lead over her fellow candidate, Bernie Sanders. As for the Republican Party, Donald J. Trump remains on top in the polls but is starting to be tested by the candidate, Ted Cruz.

For this election, the spotlight has been mainly on the Republican candidates and more specifically, Donald Trump. Although Trump seems to be the only one mentioned in the media and the clear favorite to come out of the Republican Party, there are still several other candidates. Although it may seem like a long shot right now, there is still plenty of time for someone to compete with Trump and attempt to surpass him in the polls. So far the junior U.S. Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, seems to have the most success in doing so. In recent polls, according to the USA Today, Cruz controls 18.8 percent of the national vote within the Republican Party, compared to Trump’s 34.8 percent. Candidates such as Marco Rubio and Ben Carson hold a steady position in the election and are having their voices heard in the debates, but it might not be enough to catch up to Trump.

When looking at the Democratic Party, there are only three candidates remaining, Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator, Bernie Sanders and the former Governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley. O’Malley is pretty much an after thought at this point in the election, and if you have been watching any of the debates, you may have noticed that he hasn’t necessarily been asked a lot of questions. The Democratic debates are mainly a showdown between Clinton and Sanders. A couple of months ago, Clinton seemed to be the clear favorite to win the Democratic Party, but now people aren’t too sure of that. Although Clinton is still the front-runner, Sanders has been challenging Clinton and could be able to prove himself. According to USA Today, Clinton controls 51.2 percent of the national poll with Sanders trailing at 38 percent.

Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, it’s still crucial to take both sides into consideration when casting your final vote. Watching the debates can be helpful and it helps give you a feel of each candidate’s views and opinions on various topics. Some make the argument that the debates are nothing but people fighting back and forth, which can be true, but only to a certain extent. For the most part, watching these debates does give you an idea of whom you would want to run our country.

Personally, I believe the election will come down to both Clinton and Trump. Many believe that if this is the case, Hillary will come out on top. Hillary controls more of the vote than Trump and appeals to a much broader audience. In my opinion, if Hillary Clinton were to become our next President, I don’t see much change within our nation in the next four years. Although Trump may not be as sophisticated as Clinton, there’s one thing that he says that I agree with…our country needs a stronger leader, someone who can run it and not be afraid to take charge.