It’s 2016. We have sliced bread, Chipotle, beauty blenders and snapchat filters, but we can’t have decent candidates for a presidential election. Trump supporters say Clinton’s corrupt and crooked. Clinton supporters say Trump’s racist and misogynistic. News flash people: they’re both telling the truth! So as November 8th draws near, here are some cheery things I hate about the 2016 Presidential election.
1. It’s been deduced to a twitter fight.
How many times has social media been used to fuel political fires? Remember when Trump tweeted about Obama endorsing Clinton and Clinton replied with the drive of a 15 year old with “Delete your account.” Which then only opened the door for Trump to reply “How long did it take your staff of 823 people to think that up--and where are your 33,000 emails that you deleted?” This was an actual thing that actually happened on twitter (June 9, 2016). And these are not the only problematic tweets of the election, just a tastes of the absurd and unbelievable.
2. I feel like my voice doesn’t matter.
We live in a democracy where our votes are counted within the state and then whatever party has the most votes receives all the electoral votes for that particular state. If you vote republican in New York a your voice is not being heard. Or rather it’s being heard and then ignored. It’s like the electors are thinking “Hm, 23% of New Yorkers want us to vote republican, 49% of New Yorkers want us to vote democratic and a bunch of other baby percentages want us to vote for smaller parties. Well, sucks to be the 23% and below because we’re just going to represent that 49%.” Is it just me, or does this method really not work? I calculated these numbers simply based off people registered as democratic and republican as of November 1, 2016 (New York Voter Enrollment by County; see link below).
3. A voice have been given to white supremacists, but that doesn’t make it okay.
White supremacy is a conversation we as United States citizens have avoided for too long. We ignore our past founded on slavery and the idea that we are the best country in the world therefore, our people are superior to all others- the insubordinates. This is not the case. Our country was established on the foundation that all people are to be treated equal and this foundation has been ignored by those who feel they are above this regulation, whether it is because of wealth, social status or proposed racial “superiority.” A voice has been given to the people who believe our country is only for white people, for the people looking for someone to blame for all the misfortunes in their lives. A voice has been generalizing immigrants as “illegals” when no human is illegal and violent when not race is embedded with violence. The United States is a country of people from everywhere, a melting pot, and the “browning” of America does not limit our greatness.
4. Clinton does not represent women well.
We are on the verge of having our first women president; I should be excited at how far we’ve come, not fearful that all our efforts will be taken away. Clinton has made mistakes in her 30 years in various presidential offices that people will not let her live down. If she is elected to office, the next 4 years will be full of people blaming her for everything, even those things she has no control of. She will be harshly criticized by the American public; there is no way she can win. There would always be the people convinced that her every move is crooked.
5. Debates are not debates.
Debates are supposed to be people talking to each other, proving their own point while disproving an opposition. The debates I have seen are nothing like this. I’ve seen candidates skirting around the question, misguiding it entirely with a few quick words, brushing over important topics to repeat their main bullets. Then there’s a consistent lack of actual political talk. In the first debate, Clinton mentioned her granddaughter’s birthday and Trump constantly deflected the conversation towards Clinton’s email scandal. “Our presidential candidates spend more time trying to berate each other in attempt to win over the public than with solid policy” says sophomore Matthew Mackenzie of Hartwick College. What is this election really about?
So that’s all I got folks, nothing crazy, no harm done. Whatever your opinions are, don’t forget to vote for the lesser of 2 evils on November 8th!
