The world watched with fascination as Donald Trump formally announced his presidential candidacy on June 16, turning the Republican Party upside-down and kicking off an action-packed summer. On the left, the Democratic Party saw a shift in support from Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders as a result of Clinton’s email controversy.

Controversy regarding Clinton’s private email server during her tenure as United States Secretary of State arose in March 2015. Defending her use of this private email server, Clinton claims that no classified information was sent or received.

The controversy has damaged her image and support. “Hillary can be a great candidate, but she has so many secrets. How can people trust someone who deletes hundreds of emails?” said senior Nina Bethel. Nevertheless, Clinton remains at the top of CNN Politics’ Democratic polls from Sept. 21 with 42% support of primary voters with Bernie Sanders trailing behind at 24% and Joe Biden at 22%.

Democratic Party candidate Bernie Sanders poses a threat to Clinton. His proposals to lower economic inequality and to decrease the costs of colleges gained him popularity amongst younger voters.

“He’s authentic. He’s stuck to his message for a long time. That’s something you can’t create in Hillary Clinton,” said sophomore Eli Hankin. Eli is confident Sanders will win enough primaries to win the nomination. Some students disagree. “I think Hillary’s going to win. All anyone has to say to get Bernie Sanders off the race is that he’s a socialist and the voters will have a fit,” said sophomore Alex Wenstrup.

On the opposite side of the political spectrum, all eyes are on Trump and his controversial comments. Trump’s remark about Mexican immigration remains one of his more infamous comments. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” said Trump, during his presidential announcement speech.

Sophomore Max Tannenbaum said Trump’s campaign is a foolish idea. “Some people think of the GOP more negatively because of his opinions, even though most don’t agree with him,” said Max.

Many agree. “He is a very good businessman, but I don’t think he’s very well-equipped to lead the country. His strategy to degrade other candidates as opposed to showing what he can do as president is hurting him,” said freshman William Goldsmith. Nevertheless, CNN polls from Sept. 21 show Trump as the GOP front-runner candidate, with 24% support, and Carly Fiorina ranked second with 15% of the vote.

So far, the 2016 presidential race has been defined and dominated by ‘outsiders.’ Three of the top four Republican candidates, Trump, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, have never held political office. The fourth, junior Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who is tied for third with Fiorina, according to an MSNBC poll released on Oct. 6, has limited experience and is relatively young, compared to prior Republican candidates.

Additionally, although he has significant political experience, some view Sanders as somewhat of an ‘outsider’ due to his far-left policies and rejection of Super PACs, a staple of modern Presidential campaigns.

Some see this ‘outsider’ trend as a positive influence on politics. “I think that political experience is good, but I don’t think that should make or break someone’s campaign,” said senior Alexander Delia. “If they have good ideas and represent the people, I think they would be a good candidate.”

As a result of this ‘outsider’ trend, many mainstream Republican politicians are changing their positions on issues like immigration in an attempt to appeal to voters. Jeb Bush had a rough start with his moderate view on immigration. Following Trump’s success, Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, saw a shift in Bush’s immigration stance. “He’s sliding further to the right and emphasizing security and enforcement,” said Sharry.

This summer, one candidate took the idea of ‘outsider’ politicians to the extreme. Under the alias Deez Nuts, a reference to a popular meme, 15-year-old Brady Olson launched a presidential campaign in Iowa as an Independent. In Iowa, Deez Nuts polled higher than several established candidates, and the campaign went viral. Olson says the campaign was intended as a joke, but attributes his success to the trend of ‘outsider’ politicians in the 2016 race.

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