We're a little over a year away from the 2016 elections. Campaigns are already starting to take over the media, like the Democratic national debate did on Tuesday night.
Newcomer Bernie Sanders has acquired quite the younger following. He himself is on the far left, a border-line socialist, but in order to run he registered as Democratic. (Fortunately), his issues are resonating with my generation who, like me, finally get to vote this time around.
The issues that Bernie Sanders wants to address are not new or revolutionary. He simply wants to make America what it should be. Honestly, he has my vote simply because he wants to make college free. Who wouldn't mind going to college for free? He realizes that there is something genuinely wrong with America and that it needs to be fixed
Comparing the list of issues on his website to the more famous Hillary Clinton, you can tell that he simply cares more. The issues he brings up are not cliché; they are the issues that most politicians would never dare to address for fear of being ridiculed. Issues like universal healthcare and childcare, enforcing equal pay for women and minorities, equal opportunities for all people, and racial justice are not typical platforms for most candidates. But Senator Bernie Sanders, isn't running to be popular, he genuinely wants to change America.
I have nothing against Hillary Clinton and if I had to choose between her and Trump, I would pick her in a heartbeat. However, I feel that Clinton won't solve the problems like Sanders. She wants to cover them so they appear fixed. Just looking at the list on her website, which is smaller by the way, I can tell that her ideas were probably carefully thought and written out so that they wouldn't offend anyone. Her issues don't actually get to the root of the problem. She may realize that there is a problem but she doesn’t propose anything that could fix the problem forever. In fact, many of her issues could be considered more conservative.
For example, giving people more affordable health care does not guarantee that everyone will still be able to afford it. And she isn't going to fix the gun control problem; she merely wants to regulate guns like her conservative counterparts, which has obviously not helped cut down on the recent school shootings. Hillary Clinton may have the most experience but she is all talk and no bite. The ideas that Clinton brings to the table will be eradicated if and when the next Republican president is voted into office.
Lastly, the biggest problem I have with her is that she is going to do nothing for me as an African American female. When I wanted President Obama to be president, him being African American wasn't the deciding factor for me. He understood the struggles of most Americans and I felt like I could relate to him somehow. He came from humble beginning and spoke to everyone as equals.
Most feminists are excited for the first woman president. I am too, but I don’t want it to be Hillary Clinton. Two words: white feminism. Hillary Clinton is only helpful for white women in this country. She may pass equal rights for women but unless she addresses the obvious race problem I'll still be getting paid less than my colleagues So far, she hasn't shown me anything that proves that she cares about all women and all races. By default, my vote is going to Bernie who cares about both my skin color and gender.
We have two candidates who are expressing the same ideas essentially. One is more known than the other but the other will be known. I’m not saying that Hillary Clinton is not a good option for the presidency because I'm sure she would do a great job. However, there is a better option and his name is Bernie Sanders and he finally will lead America in the direction that it needs to be in.
Register to vote here: https://www.vote.virginia.gov/
