The Fight For Oval Office: A Voter's Perspective

As college students, we are encouraged to think about our political freedom.

We are encouraged to register to vote and we are deeply encouraged to really pay attention to who is running during election season.

This November the games have changed, and it has placed college students across the country in a position that could help not just change America, but change the world.

It is no secret that the 2016 elections are going to be amongst some of the historical elections that America has seen yet. Following the eight year election of Barack Obama, America’s first ever elected black president, 2016 could bring America its first ever elected woman as president, or it could elect the first president who has never held government office.

While this election places college students in a demanding position, it also places immigrant families, those within the LGBTQ community, women, and minorities in an even more demanding position. With each of these groups potentially facing human rights issues with our next potential president, our society has begun to ask ourselves how corrupt we are willing to get.

As a democrat, I have found myself questioning what is most important to me more than I ever have since this election began. I thought it was a nice joke when Donald Trump decided to run for President; however, as he gains momentum and his numbers only seem to go up, I find myself afraid for what the next four years of my life could look like.

I have been a strong supporter of Bernie Sanders since August 2015; anyone that follows me on any form of social media could attest to that. Seeing him lose and then endorse Hilary Clinton was a harsh reality I was not ready for. Being a feminist and a woman, a lot of people have assumed that I should want Hilary as my next President. But being a feminist and having a vagina doesn’t mean that I should be so quick to vote for someone else with a vagina.

With Hilary officially being endorsed by the DNC as the democratic nominee, and her accepting this nomination, it has caused not only myself but other Bernie supporters as well to ask ourselves if we would be betraying our political values and morals.

Wondering if I would be making the right choice by voting for Hilary, I have struggled immensely with the internal debate. While I have had many conversations with my closest friends about who we think should be the next President, I find myself straying away from political conversations with my family. As I was having a conversation with my mother this evening, the night before the first debate between Clinton and Trump, she made a great point that my grandmother would be the perfect person to talk to about the election.

My grandma has done nothing but watch CNN for months, learning as much as she can not just about the election, but the issues going on across the world. As a woman who has been apart of the voting system since the late 60's I agreed that my grandma would be one of the best people to talk to about the election.

Who was the first person you voted for?

I think the first election I ever voted for was Bobby Kennedy. I remember voting for Regan and that being a big game changer for me as well.

Why do you think those that are supporting Donald Trump believe he should be our next president?

Because they want change. They want someone different that isn’t in politics. They don’t trust a politician.

As a woman, do you feel any sense of pressure to vote for Hilary?

I wouldn’t say pressure, I would say pride. I feel that there is a sense of pride in voting a woman as the next President.

My way of thinking is that, democrats represented the working class, or blue collar families. My father was a democrat, so naturally we voted how he voted. As I got older, my views changed and I found myself going more independent. I voted more on the person rather than the party. I feel that republicans were rich business owners, you know people that had a lot of money. There was a sense of honesty with the democrats, whereas that honesty was missing from republicans. It felt like you were picking a team back then.

How is this election different than some of the elections you have been around to see? For example, how is this election different compared to the JFK election?

Each election is something that we’ve never had before. First of all, he is a business man and has never been in politics. While she, being a woman who has a history of politics, people just don’t trust her. It’s a very hard election, a very frustrating election. People are so divided, it’s a reflection of blacks and whites. It’s about the same thing. People are so loyal on both sides, and it’s evenly divided right now. It scares me; I have a fear of him winning. I just don’t trust him—the world is such a fragile place right now with ISIS and everything else that is going on in the world. And with North Korea and the nuclear aspect of it, you want someone with experience. Do you want someone hot tempered? We don’t know who could be whispering in his ear. He is going to need to be controlled. It’s terrifying. It’s not going to affect me personally, I don’t feel. Being retired on social security I don’t feel like it would affect me on day to day basis. But it will affect you; because four years is a long time. A lot of things can happen. I’m afraid to go back to the days where we had to fight for our rights of things we have now (LGBT, abortions). I feel like it’s climbing a hill only to slide back down.

As a retired white woman who is about to enter her 70’s, what does this election mean to you?

I’m afraid for the younger people. I’m afraid for climate change and that the president needs to be aware about what is happening to our planet. He doesn’t believe in climate change, which is a very big problem. We need someone who sees the dangerous things that are going on in the world, and they need to take them serious. In the last few years that I have left, I don’t feel like he can affect me. My housing and social security cannot be affected by him. But for you there are so many things on the line. You are about to enter the work force, and as a woman there are so many things out there that are subject to change. That is what scares me.

What do you think is at risk with this election?

Climate change policies, the possibility of nuclear war, unrest civil rights, ISIS, the war in Syria, immigration; I mean, immigration is such a vital part of who we are as a country. How are you going to tell people that they can’t live here after they have worked so hard to build the lives they have created for their families? I don’t know, I just think it’s a challenge. Transparency is a big thing right now.

Setting your own political opinion aside, what kind of President do you believe America needs right now?

If Obama could be reelected somehow, I believe that is what we need. I don’t mean in a sense of being democrat or republican, but with his values. He is very humble and sincere, and he has been able to earn the trust of America and not tarnish it. America needs someone that they can trust. We are putting our lives in the hands of someone with great power, and we need to believe that our next leader will protect not just our lives, but how we are able to live our lives. Our freedom is one of the most important things that we hold dear as a country, and we need to be able to maintain that freedom no matter who is in power.

Whether you are young or old, rich or poor, the oppressed or the majority— it is vital that each of us who have the opportunity to vote, to do so on November 8th. There are times that we may feel that our vote does not matter, especially within a system that seems to have already chosen what might be the best fit for us. But I have to disagree. Each vote matters just as much as the next. As a society, we have created our sense of democracy and have kept it alive as long as we have. If we do not vote this November, we are letting that democracy slowly die out.

So many of us complain about our Presidents when we aren’t satisfied with the change or lack thereof that can take place, and we feel like the system has already made a choice for us. If that was true, then we need to take it back. No matter what side you sit on, we need to take back the system and show our government that we care. That it is us that pick our leader—not a gaggle of people who believe they know what is best for us.

We know what is best for us as a country, and we need to make them listen.

If you aren’t registered to vote, you may do so here.