With political gurus almost certain about the outcome of this election, and the NYTimes polls reporting Hilary Clinton in a lead with 46.2% to Trump's 40%, one can ascertain that America will welcome 2017 with its first female President.
The election hype has reached its peak amid debates and debacles. From Clinton's email scandal to Trump's traumatic "locker room talk", the debates instead of focusing on policy and the presidential nominees' ability to hold the most powerful office in the world, have turned into a stagnant (and inconsequential) babble about who is worse -- Trump or Clinton? It is quite evident that the voters are not happy with the choices they have been provided this election year. So much so that David Gelernter, a Yale computer science professor, rendered the voter "emasculated" in his WSJ article marqueeing the title "Trump and the Emasculated Voter."
Although Mr. Gelernter aimed at providing a so-called "birds eye view" to the Presidential race, his "birds eye view" sounded nothing more than a wayward solution to a difficult problem. In the article Mr. Gelernter affirms, "Impeachment is Trump-voters’ ace in the hole. It’s an abnormal measure, but this is an abnormal year" followed by "There is only one way to take part in protecting this nation from Hillary Clinton, and that is to vote for Donald Trump. A vote for anyone else or for no one might be an honest, admirable gesture in principle, but we don’t need conscientious objectors in this war for the country’s international standing and hence for the safety of the world and the American way of life."
It is an abnormal election year indeed. However, handing the reigns to the most important office in all nations over to a man who "bigly" champions sexual assault (because we don't like Hilary) is outright irreverent. And what exactly is the "American way of life" that Mr. Gelernter so proudly purports? Is it the American way whereby we support an out-and-out unqualified pea-brained nominee in hopes that he might get impeached? Or is it the one that 'admires' the honest gesture of not voting?
Isn't suffrage the fundamental America was built on?
Mr. Gelernter also declares, "Nothing can stop Mr. Trump from shooting off his mouth. But that is alright", which to me seems an extremely interesting and simultaneously disturbing take on the behavioral patterns of our probable diplomatic head. Maybe Mr. Gelernter is willing to provide duct tape to seal Mr.Trump's mouth once elected President, but I certainly am not.
It is necessary that we completely comprehend the repercussions to the choices we make. Our right to vote shouldn't be deemed a latent tool, and thus left dormant. Also, if we go to the polls thinking that maybe "One vote wouldn't make a difference", those "one votes" can accumulate to create the fate of our country for the next four years.
Consider Britain's severance from the European Union. According to Quartz, a business publication, most traditional polls forecasted the outcome of the referendum to be in support of remaining in the European Union. However, Brexit came as a shock not only to the European Union, but also the voters themselves who were unaware of the very nature of the outcome of the decision that they were making. And now, the pound sterling has fallen almost 16% in value (WSJ), and many significant leaders from the UK (and the world) are calling Brexit "a terrible mistake".
Hopefully the "emasculated voter" realizes the potent of his vote. Only then can we keep America from committing a Brexit.
As Cathrine Bennet so aptly put in her response to the article, "And women? We will vote for the better candidate because we do not fear emasculation."
