This year's election is truly a defining moment in history and one of the most interesting ones in recent years. It is also the first one that I am old enough to vote in. Even if you don't typically keep up with the news or politics, you probably have some sort of idea about what's going on. The stories of the candidates and debates have dominated the 24-hour news cycle and it seems like everyone has an opinion on who they think would be best to run our country. People are closely following the primaries because both parties still have more than one candidate in the race, which isn't very common this late in the election cycle.
The extremes presented in the election show just how polarized our nation is and how fed up people are with our government. The people who support Trump do so because they are sick of the typical government gridlock and same old same old politics in this country.
They think his honesty and unfiltered views are refreshing. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is Bernie Sanders, the strong-willed liberal with somewhat socialist views. Many support him because they think he is more honest than typical politicians as well, and respect his views on things like women's rights and his support of civil rights. The consensus among both groups seems to be that there needs to be some change in Washington.
People who oppose Trump and/or Sanders seem pretty terrified of the extremes they propose, such as building a wall to keep out immigrants or Sanders' desire to raise taxes to cover things like universal healthcare or universal education. I am not convinced that a $15 minimum wage or higher taxes is the solution to our problem, but I like the fact that Bernie seems to be honest and at least trying to come up with new and fresh ideas to help our struggling country.
On the other hand, Trump has been saying some pretty racist and hateful things throughout his candidacy, so it's no wonder many people are strongly against him. But at the same time, I think a lot of what he says is for show and aims to shock people. I respect Trump speaking his mind and acting as an alternative to the stream of politicians that all seem to be the same; however, he is a wild card and I'm not sure he can be trusted in the highest office in the country. Furthermore, if he means even half of what he says I don't really think he represents the majority of our country.
Many people's complaints about Hillary Clinton is that her presidency would just be another four years of Obama's policies and nothing really getting done in this country, as well as the fact that many people think she is a liar and should be punished for her email scandal. At the same time, she has a lot of name recognition and to many seems like one of the less extreme options out of the candidates. Cruz presents the alternative option to Trump and a more typical conservative voice. I didn't really like the way he let himself get sucked into the fights with Trump and sometimes I think he is just as bad.
Kasich is the third Republican candidate, and to many it seems like he has the most proven track record but just doesn't get people's attention like the other two candidates. Honestly, he is probably the one I would be most likely to vote for because he just seems like the least risky option. I actually think a lot of people agree with me on this but won't vote for him simply because they think he has no shot at winning. I think this is a bad philosophy to live by, if we all voted simply on who we thought would win, then the result wouldn't truly be the will of the people.
As the New York primary approaches I am still trying to decide who to vote for. This election presents many different options for me but as a moderate, none of them wholly appeal to me and I just can't find myself feeling passionate towards any of them. I am a registered Republican with somewhat conservative economic views and liberal social views, making it so that none of the candidates really align that closely with my values.
Furthermore, being a Republican in NY typically doesn't mean a whole lot, but for this primary it could actually have a major impact on who will win the nomination for the party. For that reason I want to take the election seriously, but the antics of the candidates is making that pretty difficult. I'm hoping one of the candidates will start to appeal to me soon, but in the meantime, at least my first election is shaping up to be quite the interesting battle.
